Mistletoe
by Texas Variety Katie-Bug
Summary: Aged-Up Christmas AU. He saw her in the window, happily placing the decorations on the tree when a thought crossed his mind- hire her to decorate his Christmas tree for the first time in thirteen years. Countdown to Christmas.
1. Wizards in Winter

Prologue: Wizards in Winter

Lights illuminated the streets, reflecting softly off the freshly fallen snow. A pair of people walked with arms linked down the street, absorbed in the world around them, smiling at one another, lost in one another's gazes. It would be difficult to find a couple in Paris more in love. Just ahead of them a young boy ran around basking in the falling snow. He ran around catching the falling snowflakes on his tongue, laughing as they melted.

"Adrien appears to be enjoying himself," the woman said, stifling a chuckle as the boy tripped, landing face first in the snow, rolling over and beginning to make a snow angel on the sidewalk.

His father was less amused, seeing the young boy's custom, designer jacket becoming soaked and slightly muddied as he played. "Perhaps a bit too much."

The mother rolled her eyes and unlinked arms with the man. "It's Christmas Eve, Gabriel and we promised him we'd go see the Christmas lights. _Light_ en up."

Gabriel brought his hand to the bridge of his nose and rubbed it. His wife thought puns and word play were the epitome of humor, something he throughly disagreed with. He only hoped Adrien took after him in regards to humor, but seeing as Adrien appeared to find joy in the jokes Gabriel doubted it. He would just have to educate him on what real humor was when he was older and hopefully snuff out the love of puns before it was too late. The man brought his hand down from the bridge on his nose and felt something assault his temple, suddenly making him cold and knocking his glasses off of his face. He looked up and saw his wife smiling maliciously, their son jumping up and down, laughing because "Mother hit Father with a snowball!"

There was nothing to be done about his wife's antics. He reached down to pick up the abandoned frames and, while crouched down, dusted the lenses off and crafted a snowball away from his wife's sight. He placed the ball in his pocket and rose back up, giving his wife an annoyed glance. "Really? You're going to teach our son to partake in frivolous activities like snowball fights?" He walked over to her and placed his hand on her waist and brought her in for a kiss, pulling the snowball out of his pocket, whilst doing so, crushing the snow on her head when she had completely sunken into him. She pushed him off of her and gave him a betrayed look while the man just looked down at her with a small grin on his face. "If you're going to teach him, teach him right." Gabriel turned his attention to Adrien and crouched so he was eye level with the boy. "Sneak attacks are always more effective than direct approaches."

A snowball in his face and Adrien laughing uncontrollably once again. "I got Father! I got Father!" The walk was abandoned and the three made their way to a nearby park. The Christmas lights and street lamps illuminated the park, making the scene almost as bright as day. Gabriel and his wife were aiming snowballs at one another and Adrien alternated between the two parents, enjoying being able to throw snowballs at both of them. The fight soon became a war and the two adults, laughing all their cares away, forgot about everything around them. They were entirely focused on pegging one another with balls of ice. Neither of them noticed their son wander off, his eyes locked on red and white lights outlining a bakery.

The little boy looked in the frosted windows and saw a mother and father with a young girl eating green macarons with red frosting, happily drinking hot chocolate. The girl was wearing a large red ribbon tied in a bow on top of her head, making the girl look like a present. The mother wore a santa hat and the father wore a red and green striped felt elf hat with fake ears sewn onto the sides. They were laughing at something said by the dad and a dollop of red frosting was placed playfully on the girl's nose. Adrien pressed his own nose to the window and the wife tapped the husband on the shoulder, pointing to where Adrien stood with a smile on her face. He was a shy child, though energetic. His curiosity brought him to the window of the bakery and his shyness brought a blush to his cheeks when he was noticed, but a wave from the girl made everything suddenly okay. He waved back and the door to the bakery was opened, the largest man Adrien had ever seen standing in front of him. Someone of this size would usually send Adrien running for the hills, but the man, with his crooked elf hat, flour dusted shirt and vanilla smell reminded Adrien of a young Santa Clause. "Where are your parents, son?"

Adrien looked around and realized he didn't know where they were. He must have walked farther away from the park than he thought. His eyes started to sting and tears filled his vision, blurring the sight of the kind man. "Hey, don't cry. We'll find them." The man brought the boy in and gave him one of the macarons. A bite from the sweet peppermint flavored cookie and a smile from with girl with red frosting on her nose made Adrien feel a bit better.

"They're good, right?" She gave him a toothy smile and Adrien could do nothing but give her an enthusiastic nod. "I'm not allowed to make macarons yet. Apparently they're hard to make, but I got to make the frosting! I nearly put an entire bottle of food coloring in there."

"It's good," he spoke quietly, returning the toothy smile with one of his own. While he finished his cookie the adults put on their coats and gloves before helping the girl with hers.

"Where did you last see your parents, young man?" The woman crouched down so she was eye level with him, a position he had seen his father in many times, but the kind smile made her look different. She was asking a question, not giving instruction.

"They were throwing snowballs at the park. I saw the lights and wandered off."

"The park! That's just around the corner." The girl gave him another macaron. "These were supposed to be for Santa, but I don't think he'd mind sharing with you."

Tom packed a small box of macarons as an offering for the boys parents, happy to share his baking creation with the young boy's family. They must be worried about him. He held the box with one hand and held his daughter's hand with the other, letting his wife take the hand of the boy and lead them to the park where the evidence of a snowball fight remained. A man stood on a phone speaking rapidly and crossly into the receiver demanding police arrive to help him find his son. A woman near tears had her hands cupped around her mouth, calling out her son's name in desperation. Adrien broke free of Sabine's hand and ran to the hysterical woman who immediately enveloped her son in a hug. The father hastily spoke into the phone and hung up, going to where his wife hugged their son. "Adrien," the man's voice was stern, a complete contrast to the warmth that came from the baker, "where were you?"

Sheepishly, Adrien looked at his shoes, avoiding eye contact with the man. "I- I wanted to look at the lights and you and mother looked like you were having a lot of fun and I didn't want to interrupt."

His mother stroked his hair and placed a kiss on his head, "I'm sorry, baby. We went out to look at lights and we ended up forgetting that." She placed a kiss to the top of his head before giving him a stern look, "That doesn't mean you can just run off, though." She glanced up at the family that had escorted him back. "You're lucky you found such nice people to bring you back to us, but that's not always going to be the case." She stood up and dusted herself off, trying to make herself look presentable to the stranger. "Thank you for getting him back to us."

Tom shook his head, passing the woman the box of cookies. "It was no problem. He's a very well behaved young man. He didn't even realize he was lost until I asked where his parents were." He put one of his large hands on Marinette's head and let out a hearty chuckle. "This one keeps us on our toes. She's always getting into trouble."

"Papa!" The little girl puffed out her cheeks indignantly and turned away from the man, who immediately scooped her up in a hug, causing her to laugh.

Sabine gave the woman a kind smile and Adrien a pat on the head. "We best be off. Come to the bakery around the corner anytime you'd like. We'll give you something on the house."

The woman nodded and the baker's family left, returning home. Gabriel and his wife each took their son's hands in one of their own, swinging his arms with each step. They looked around at the lights, elated that Adrien had returned home safely. When the boy let out a yawn they took the hint and decided to head home for the night.

Three important things happened the night the Agreste family when to look at Christmas lights. Adrien saw the jovial, playful side of his father, something that was foreign to him just days before. Adrien also met the girl he would one day fall in love with, though he didn't know this yet. Finally, Adrien witnessed his mother's death.

The family was walking home when a car hit a patch of ice on the road and slid out of control and headed straight for Adrien. His mother leapt in front of him and pushed him out of the way, sacrificing herself to save him. Lights illuminated the streets of Paris that Christmas Eve, but they weren't the kind Adrien had hoped to see. His father covered his eyes and looked away from the atrocious, gruesome scene. The boy hardly got a look at what happened. He just saw his mother's hair lying on the asphalt, broken bright green cookies surrounding her. That moment shadowed over everything that happened that night and the kind baker's family was forgotten. The loss of his mother was the only thing he could think of.

That Christmas was the most vivid one in his memory, and the one he hoped to forget the most. He opened all his presents, but it took until June for him to do so, crying each time the label said "From Mother."

Needless to say, the Agreste household wasn't keen on celebrating Christmas after that. Christmas time Gabriel would isolate himself from the rest of the house, from his son, even more than usual. Adrien had tried to get his father to come out the years following his mother's death, but he learned it was useless. Eventually he gave up and decided to learn how to cope with the holiday on his own, going and looking at the bright lights every night in December. That was the last thing he did with his mother so he made it his own tradition to go out and see the bright lights for himself. He felt closer to his mother that way.

Thirteen years after the death of his mother Adrien walked outside, letting the snow fall on his shoulders. The shining of the Christmas lights brought a smile to his face. It was a peaceful, though not quite silent, night. The sound of cars driving over the road softly echoed, the sound of snow crushing beneath his shoes, both were music to his ears. He rounded the corner and found his gaze looking at red and white Christmas lights and real music caught his attention. An orchestral variation of Wizards in Winter with classic string instruments and electric guitar brought him close to the window belonging to the owners of the red and white Christmas lights. Inside a girl was preparing the tree. He watched her longingly from the window and he couldn't help but notice something felt familiar about this.

* * *

 _Merry Christmas, all! Well, Merry December at least! If you were here at Halloween and happened to be around for my 13 days of Halloween then you might be able to detect the pattern here. We're celebrating the 12 days of Christmas! I'm super excited for this and went through at least four different Christmas plots before deciding which one to use. Daily updates will start December 14th and the last update will be on December 25th! I hope y'all all enjoy. This story will play out a bit like a Hallmark movie (seeing as a lot of this story was inspired by those) so I hope y'all won't be upset about that. Let me know what y'all think and I'll see y'all December 14th!_


	2. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Chapter One: Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Ten years from now when asked how he met Marinette, Adrien would reply she caught him off guard, which was the truth. The girl was playing Christmas music from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra... loudly. He could hear it from outside which is what caused him to peer in the window in the first place. He was intrigued, and when he went to look in the window he was surprised to see a girl wearing black leggings, a red and white striped sweater, and bright red socks with cartoonish mistletoes sewn on. It was only the third day of December but she was already placing ornaments on a red and white decorated Christmas Tree, dancing around the room, enjoying the festivities that the holiday brought. He didn't realize he was staring, until she just happened to glance his way while holding a snowflake ornament. She froze and her eyes widened, the pupils growing in size. He gave her a small wave and a smile, trying to make her feel at ease and apologize for startling her, which caused her to subsequently take three steps backwards before falling backwards over a partially empty box of ornaments. She didn't move and Adrien's first thought was _"Merde. J'ai tu_ _é la femme* jolie!"_ Roughly translated: _"Shit. I killed the pretty girl!"_ Adrien looked at the sign on the building. Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. A bakery. The bakery was closed but it was a shop. Hopefully Tom and Sabine, whoever they were, would forgive him for coming in after hours to rescue the girl. He experimentally pulled on the door, letting out a sigh of relief when it opened, then rushed to her side, hoping she was still conscious. Luckily, she was. "I am so sorry," he spoke sincerely, offering a hand out to her to help her to her feet. "Are you okay?"

Ten years from now when asked how she met Adrien she would reply he caught her off guard, which continued to be the truth. He held his hand out to help her up, but she just blinked at him, unsure of what to make of this situation because holy crap the most beautiful man she had ever seen was watching her dance in the window and he was smiling at her and staring at her and he saw her trip and fall over and said impossibly beautiful man was now staring at her and offering out a hand to her and should she accept his hand or not because if she did she had to acknowledge the whole thing happened and she really needed Alya here to tell her how to handle this situation because she really was not handling this situation well. He asked her if she was okay and she just blinked at him. Then she noticed his hand was still extended and took it, letting him awkwardly help her to her feet, except his hand didn't feel awkward at all. She felt like her hand fit in his hand perfectly and she really needed to stop this train of thought because she really needed to stop daydreaming about random stranger man because she was never going to see him again after this. "Uh, yeah. Fine. I'm fine. Like you. I-I mean, not like you, not that you're not fine and uh..." the snowflake was hanging from the middle finger on her left hand and she had an idea of a way to dig herself out of this hole. "Here." She gave him the ornament and smiled. "For your tree at home, as thanks for helping me." She then ran further into the bakery, away from where the now very confused man could see her.

She watched him as he peered around the room in an attempt to find the now missing girl before looking at the snowflake she had unceremoniously shoved in his gloved hand. He glanced up and the tree and she saw the smile that was starting to play on his lips grow bigger. "Merry Christmas," he called out before disappearing out the front door again.

Marinette ran out of her hiding spot and watched him walk away through the window before sighing and sinking to the ground, her back supporting her weight as she slid down the cold glass. "Merry Christmas to you, too."

The walk away from the bakery was bittersweet. He had loved the interaction he had with the girl, but a large part of him knew that would be the most festive interaction he would have the entire holiday. He knew his father wasn't going to celebrate the season, not that Adrien blamed him. He had been shielded from the sight of his mother dead on the street, but his father saw the whole thing. Adrien loved Christmas because his mother loved it. Before she died she would tell him stories about the holiday, tell him about the birth of baby Jesus and remind him what the holiday was about before reading him poems and telling him stories about Santa before going to sleep. While Adrien cherished these memories, his father pushed them away. He pushed away anything that reminded him too much of his wife. It's probably why he became so distant towards his son. Adrien missed his father. He missed the tree. He missed the warmth the huge house had when his mother was still alive.

He arrived at the front of his house, entering a code on the gate that allowed him access and denied most others. Usually Adrien would eat out but today was Sunday. It was the one day he and his father would have a meal together. There wasn't a lot of talking involved, his father usually bringing work to the table. Adrien would be on his phone, studying his language courses on various apps. There would be the occasional comment on how Adrien mispronounced a certain word, or how good the meal was, but besides that it was spent with the two men largely ignoring one another. Adrien couldn't help but think how sad his mother would be if she saw this.

The whole thing was such a formal affair. Upon arriving home Adrien went to his room and changed, gently placing the snowflake ornament on his desk as to not lose it while changing from a coat and tee shirt to a pale blue, oxford style button down. He continued to wear his jeans, not wanting to look like he tried too hard to impress his father. He let out a sigh. How many other twenty-one year olds had to worry about making sure their father accepted them?

Dinner that night was smoked turkey and Adrien helped himself to a serving. He looked over at where his father sat and was surprised to see there was no work at the table. "Everything done today, father?"

"For today. I've completed everything _here_." Gabriel took a bite of his turkey, not paying attention to the flavor. He didn't derive pleasure from food. He just saw eating as an annoying necessity. If eating could be avoided he would, but if he wanted to maintain his health then he would eat. He completed his bite and looked up at his son. "I'm going to London until the first of the year. I leave tomorrow. There's a Christmas showcase and I was asked to participate." The only people who knew of Gabriel Agreste's dislike of Christmas were Adrien, Nathalie and Adrien's bodyguard that he affectionally called The Gorilla. "You'll spend the holidays here this year, thought I doubt there will be a problem with that," he said. Gabriel wasn't stupid. He knew he ostracized his son, and knew the separation became more extreme around the holidays. It was a coping mechanism. Not a healthy one, but a coping mechanism nonetheless. "Why don't you call that fiancé of yours?"

Fiancé. He hated that word. He didn't hate the girl that was associated with it, but he knew he would never grow to love her. Chloe Bourgeious, the only daughter of Andre Bourgeious, the current mayor of Paris and an extremely affluent politician. The idea of an arranged marriage crossed Gabriel's mind about a year after his wife's death, and, at the ripe old age of ten, Adrien was engaged. Chloe was spoiled and over dramatic when they were young, but it was something Adrien had hoped she would grow out of. She didn't. She just added partying with celebrities to the list. She made shows of having a charitable nature, organizing large toy drives for hospitalized children and collecting food for the homeless, but he knew these were just publicity stunts to distract from the negative press she received from partying. Chloe had never gone to the hospital to visit with children. She had never handed out food in the cold to the homeless. She just acted as a figurehead. The events were organized by Chloe's best friend, Sabrina, but only those in the most inner circle knew that. Adrien hoped he could help her break out of her childish shell by being with him, but every drunken text she sent caused him to lose a bit more hope. He had to try for his father's sake, though. "Sure. I'll call her after dinner."

And he did. He went to his room and scrolled through his phone until he came across Chloe's number. He tapped the screen subsequently causing the number to dial. She answered on the fifth ring. "Adri-kins! This in unexpected! You never call me. What's up?"

A pang of guilt shot through his chest. He really ought to make more of an effort with the girl. Despite her flaws she was the only one trying in their relationship. She was the one calling him. She was the one showing affection, buying gifts, and arraigning dates. He ought to put more effort into their upcoming marriage. At least Chloe was patient with him, if nothing else. "Hey Chloe. I was just wondering if you'd like to spend Christmas with me. Father is going to be in London for work and I don't want to spend an-" he sighed. He had almost said another. Chloe didn't know about his family's holiday drama, how he spent every Christmas without celebration... "I mean, I didn't want to spend Christmas alone."

"Oh," he could hear her let out a sympathetic breath, "I'm sorry to hear that. I'm going to be in New York with Sabrina this Christmas, though. It's my last one as a single woman!"

The wedding was in June. Right. He would be married to Chloe in less than seven months. It was his last Christmas as a single man as well. "Well, maybe we could do something this week?"

"Tsk, sorry Adri-honey. I'm leaving in just a few hours. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner. There's just all these parties in New York that I just _have_ to be at. I get to go to the President of the United State's Christmas party, did you know that? How cool will that be?" She sounded excited. He didn't want to take that excitement away from her.

"Yeah, pretty cool, Chlo." He glanced at his desk, seeing the little snowflake ornament sitting there. "Well I'll let you go. I'm sure you have to finish packing."

"Alright! Bye-bye hun!"

" _Au revoir."_ He hung up the phone and walked over and picked the little snowflake up. He would be at the house this Christmas without his father for the first time since his mother died. Perhaps he could be a bit festive this year. His father didn't get back until January. As long as he took down the decorations his father would be none the wiser. Adrien just didn't know the first thing about setting up a tree, or decorating one for that matter. An image of the girl dancing around a bakery while decorating a tree flashed through his head. He might know someone who could help. Tomorrow, first thing after his father left, he was going to visit a certain bakery. If he could convince her to help him then he would spare no expense. Lights of every color, trees as tall as buildings, whatever she wanted. He was going to celebrate Christmas this year and no one could stop him.

* * *

 _*femme translates to woman, not girl, but I killed the pretty girl flows better in English so that's what I went with_

 _Good morning you beautiful creatures! It it now officially time to countdown the twelve days of Christmas! Yay! Please let me know what y'all think and I'll see y'all tomorrow!_


	3. Winter Wonderland

Chapter Two: Winter Wonderland

The morning was pretty when he woke up. Snow was falling gently in the city, and, despite the biting cold, Adrien felt happy. He had a mission. He was going to recruit the girl from yesterday for his mission. He planned to walk into the bakery, give her his model smile and sweet talk her into helping him if he had to. He could also bribe her if nothing else worked, but from the way she acted yesterday he suspected that the sweet talking would be enough. She didn't seem like the bribe type. Still, it wasn't like he was going to demand her time and not compensate her. He would ask how much the bakery was paying her hourly and double that. No expenses spared. It was going to be a good day.

Of course said plan went out the window as soon as soon as he walked out the door. The gently falling snow picked up and now was falling around in thick sheets of white. He could hardly see his hand in front of his face. Somewhere in the back of his mind Adrien suspected his father's travels plans getting delayed. Walking to the bakery was a struggle, but he let out a sigh of relief when he got there, which he immediately regretted because the bakery was packed. The snowstorm had picked up rather suddenly and people found themselves stranded in the warmth of the bakery. Adrien found that walking up to the counter and giving a model smile was far easier said than done. He couldn't even tell if she was working the counter. For all he knew it was her day off and she was off somewhere else, dancing around another Christmas tree, decorating it for another bakery.

He glanced at the tree, the very top peeking out over the customers, the warm lights illuminating the already bright and cozy space. The red ribbon against the green tree looked jolly and festive. The tree topper was an oversized top-hat instead of the typical angel or star tree topper and he found himself smiling. He could see the sparkling snowflakes and the sparkling red, white and green balls, solid colored and pattered, joyously reflecting the warmth into the bakery. Personalized ornaments from different family vacations littered the tree, but instead of clashing against the classier ornaments, they just made the tree seem more alive. His eyes were drawn to a little ballerina holding a bouquet of roses when he finally noticed he was next in line.

He reached the front and was slightly disheartened to see a small Asian woman working the counter and not the girl from yesterday. "Hello, what can we get for you today?" The woman was polite and spoke with a soft, yet strong voice that commanded attention without being authoritative.

"Um," Adrien glanced at the treats, trying to decide what he wanted, "they all look really good! What do you recommend, madame?" To be frank, Adrien forget that he would have to order something upon arrival. It wasn't in his master plan.

The woman gave him a smile and gestured to small, brightly colored cookies. "It's a bit early for macarons, but they're my husband's specialty. The pistachio and caramel almond ones are my personal favorites, but we have peppermint, and chocolate-amaretto to celebrate the holidays, and I've enjoyed those flavors as well."

"Great!" The little cookies looked amazing. He was especially captivated by the peppermint ones, dyed a pale green with pink icing, rolled in crushed candy cane... "You said the peppermint are good?"

I know I said the macarons were created by my husband, but that particular flavor was created by my daughter." Daughter. Something he could latch on to.

"They look delicious. I'll take one of each flavor, except for the peppermint. I'll take two of those, and a hot chocolate, please." The woman started putting the macarons in a little bag and Adrien's anticipation for the desserts grew. "You said your daughter made them? Was she the one who decorated that Christmas Tree?" The woman looked up at him shocked. How did he find out about the Christmas Tree? "Sorry, didn't mean to alarm you. I actually saw her decorating last night through the window. I'm a bit new to this whole Christmas thing as was wondering if I could hire her to decorate my Christmas Tree."

"Oh!" The woman looked towards the kitchen and gave a small frown. "I'd be happy to tell her, but," the woman looked at the line. It was to the door, and the little shop was packed with people, "we really need her in the back right now. She decorates all the pastries and at the rate we're going through them," Sabine sighed and gave him an apologetic look, "is there anyway you could come back this afternoon? Or even in a couple hours? We shouldn't be as busy then."

"Of course!" Adrien reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, passing it to the woman. "Call me when you can. I'm free all day." He then pulled out a note for twenty euros passing it to the woman. She started to count back his change but he shook his head. "Keep the change." He took his macarons and hot chocolate and gave the woman his signature model smile. "I'll see you this afternoon!" With that he walked off and into the snowstorm, bracing himself for the bitter cold.

Adrien's fought against the snow and was shivering, despite his thick jacket, but he was also incredibly happy. He would go back this afternoon and convince her to decorate a tree just for him. He could imagine waking up to walk down the stairs and see the giant tree standing there in the main hall of his house. He wouldn't have anyone to share the tree with yet, but that could come later. Maybe he could host an event of some sort, invite the homeless or underprivileged children to a party in the Agreste Manor. Of course, the entire affair would have to be small so his father didn't catch word, but he wasn't into charity for the publicity. He enjoyed charity because it made him feel good to do things for other people. He could put presents under the tree. Small toys for the kids, meals and blankets for the homeless, it would certainly fill out the space more. He just needed to learn how to wrap a present. Perhaps the girl could teach him. If she decorated the tree and decorated the pastries then surely she knew how to wrap a present.

He glanced down at the bag of pastries in his hand. Once he got home he could eat the pastries and set up the tree for... he didn't have a tree. How could he forget something simple like that? If he didn't have a tree then there was nothing to decorate. Adrien was tempted to hit his head against the wall for forgetting such an important detail. What kind of dumb ass gets excited about decorating a tree and forgetting to get one completely? Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise, though. He could pick one out with the girl's expertise. She could tell him how big to get one. The entry and living space, where he planned on putting the tree, had ceilings that were probably thirty feet, if not a bit more, but a tree that tall just seemed excessive. The tree needed to fill the space but finding one large enough to do so would prove to be a challenge. Transporting it would prove to be an even bigger one.

Quickly, Adrien did an online search, looking for the best types of trees, what would serve his purpose best, real or fake, the different care both of the tree types required, how to not set the house on fire in the even he got a real tree, what kind of artificial trees looked the most realistic in case he didn't want to risk setting his house on fire... seriously, how much thought could go into buying a tree? Could bakery girl help him with this as well? He really hoped she said yes. He didn't really have a backup plan in case she said no.

Well, he might have one. Nino, his best friend, had an amazing girlfriend who apparently had an awesome designer for a best friend. Last Christmas said best friend had decorated Nino's flat and the whole thing looked amazing. Festive without being tacky, cheerful without being overbearing, tasteful without being boring, it was awesome. The whole vibe was similar to that of the girl in the bakery. He would be sure to give her a call next.

The quick online search, looking at different Christmas Trees and holiday decor had turned into several hours. He had turned on Christmas music and the time melted away, until he heard his phone ringing, loudly, starling him and pulling him away from the computer screen. He didn't recognize the number, but crossed his fingers, hoping it was the bakery. "Hello?"

"Um, hi. This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. You gave my mother a business card this morning." So it was the girl! "She said something about decorating a tree for Christmas."

"Oh, great! Hi, my name is Adrien Agreste. I came by yesterday and saw you decorating the tree. You gave me a snowflake ornament." He could hear a small squeak on the other side of the phone, the girl probably embarrassed to remember the events of the day before. "I love the ornament, but I don't have a Christmas Tree. I haven't had one since I was eight, actually. I don't want the ornament to go to waste, though. Is there any way you'd be willing to help me decorate a tree? The one you had in the bakery was stunning."

"Oh, is that all? I'd love to help you, Mr. Agreste."

Hearing someone refer to him as Mr. Agreste left a bad taste in his mouth. He wasn't Mr. Agreste. His father was. "Please, call me Adrien."

"Alright. Well, I'd love to help you, Adrien."

"Great! I'll pay you by the hour and pay for all the decorations. There really isn't a budget."

She sounded confused. "Pay me? This is Christmas, Adrien. I won't allow you to pay me."

"No, I insist. I can't have you do something like this for me and not get anything in return."

"No, really. It's fine! I'd feel bad. Think of it as a gift." He could hear her smile on the other end of the phone. It was contagious and he found himself grinning ear to ear. A gift? That sounded wonderful.

"Alright, a gift it is then." He would make sure to gift her something in return. He just had to get to know the girl and figure out what she would like. "When would be a good time to meet up? I need to buy a tree before anything else."

"We could meet up at my bakery tomorrow, if you'd like? Tomorrow is my day off. I'll meet you in the lobby. In the meantime you could text me pictures of designs and concepts you like. I'll come up with some ideas and run them by you in the morning? Maybe at nine? Then we can go shopping."

He nodded, then realized she couldn't see him. "Yeah, that sounds great. I'll see you tomorrow at nine then." Shopping for Christmas decorations... he didn't know the first thing but he was going to learn. "I'll see you tomorrow Miss Dupain-Cheng."

"Marinette. Please."

He let out a small laugh. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow Marinette." The line on the other end went dead and Adrien noticed the bag of cookies and hot chocolate. The drink had long since cooled, but the cookies should still be alright. He pulled out one of the peppermint ones and took a bite, smiling as the flavor overtook him. She could bake and she could decorate. She seemed to be incredibly nice and she was really pretty. He hardly knew her, but he knew she was going to make some guy really happy one day.

* * *

 _Fun fact: I use different candles when I write. I have a vanilla latte candle that I use when I write one-shots, a caramel corn one when I plot stories in the bathtub, a spooky stories one that I used specifically for Sepulchral over Halloween, and my wonderful friend I met fanfiction in March, the beautiful Crystalteen sent me an awesome salted caramel candle as a Christmas gift! This chapter is dedicated to_ _her! Do y'all have any specific things y'all do/use when y'all read or write? Merry second day of Christmas, guys!_


	4. O Christmas Tree

Chapter Three: O Christmas Tree

It was finally tomorrow. Adrien had always been a bit of an early riser. He considered sleeping in eight or eight thirty, but his excitement had caused him to wake up around five, four hours before him and Marinette agreed to meet up. He tried to take his time getting ready for the day, five thirty rolled around and he sighed, resigning himself to playing video games for another three hours, turning on his playstation and choosing one of his many single player games. He hardly used the multiplayer games he owned. Chloe had some sort of prejudice against video games, picturing all gamers as the stereotypical greasy haired, pimply, balding fat person. Nino would play games with him, but hanging out was rare nowadays. Nino was spending the free time he got with his girlfriend. Guys nights were rare.

Adrien sighed and randomly picked a game from his collection, Danganronpa coming off the shelf. He sighed, but was ultimately happy with his selection. Solving a murder mystery would be a good way to kill time. He liked the anime atheistic of the game as well, and the main character reminded him of himself. It was kind of weird. He relaxed and played the game until eight thirty. Despite the game distracting his mind, the time dragged on. He was ready for his meeting with Marinette. He had sent her an assortment of decor ideas he found, ranging from classy silver and gold, to comedic trees with themed decorations with the aim of making people laugh. Admittedly, he wanted to be a bit on the classier side, but with bit of humor added in. He hoped Marinette could help him with that. Really, he just wanted a tree that, upon looking at it, screamed Adrien Agreste. If his father was here he would be dead.

He went to his closet and grabbed a coat, scarf and a gray beanie, all Agreste brand, but all with muted colors, varying shades of navy and gray, hoping it wouldn't be apparently how affluent he really was. He didn't want to make Marinette uncomfortable shopping with him. She seemed nice when he talked to her yesterday. He wasn't going to need his model smile or sweet talk for her. She wasn't doing this for the money. She was doing this as a gift, to genuinely help him. He would do his best to make sure she had a nice experience with him. He would find a way to pay her back for everything she was doing for him. It took a special kind of person to be this willing to help other. He left the house with these thoughts in his head.

The people Adrien normally surrounded himself with didn't do nice things for other people without expecting something for themselves in return. Charities were popularity boosters. Fundraisers were parties that allowed the host to get tipsy and brag about how great they and everyone else who attended are. Auctions were opportunities to win private trips to Caribbean islands. With every give, there was a take. He couldn't see the take with this girl, and for someone who was raised in the give and take lifestyle, it was fascinating.

He arrived at the Dupain-Cheng bakery seven minutes before their scheduled meeting time, so he stood in the ridiculously long line once again to order maracrons and hot chocolate, one of each flavor except for the peppermint, which he would have two of. "Here you are, Adrien," the woman from yesterday passed him the treats. He dug in his pocket to get the money he owed but she waved it off. "Don't worry about it. Marinette is so excited to decorate. It's on the house as a thank you for giving her the opportunity." Give with no take once again.

"W-well thank you." He was stunned. How could one family have so much kindness? He made his way to one of the few free tables, managing to get one next to the Christmas Tree, brushing away crumbs from the patrons before. He took a bite of the first peppermint macaron and smiled. He could live off of these cookies for the rest of his life.

"Were you waiting long?" He looked up and saw Marinette was pulling out a chair to join him at the table, a pale pink binder with small black polka dots and big black roses in her hands. "Sorry."

"Oh, no. I just got here." He took another bite of the macaron and smiled. "These are delicious. You made these?"

She shrugged, a blush rising to her cheeks. "I didn't make todays batch but it's my recipe. Really, I just modified my father's vanilla recipe and added some candy canes to the mix. We're a big fan of the holidays here."

"Well, I could live off of these. They're amazing."

"Thanks." She then turned her attention to her binder. There were pages of different designs coupled with notes on tree heights, color palates and themes that Adrien couldn't quite comprehend.

"You made this yesterday?"

"Yeah. It's not as nice as my usual work. I didn't have time to get enough binder sleeves or dividers and many of my sketches are their first drafts, but I think it'll be good enough for today."

He was stunned. He had seen designer portfolios, professional ones by professional designers, and some of them didn't look half as good as this. "Are you kidding? This is amazing."

"It's really not a big deal! I'm hoping to become a professional designer one day so this was actually fun to put together."

Marinette wanted to be a professional designer? Just from a glance he could tell she had an eye for design. She had sticky notes marking each section as a replacement for dividers, but they were placed in such a way it was difficult to tell they were unintentional. Everything was bright and colorful. He watched her as she opened to the fourth sticky note, labeled trees. "So, you said you didn't have a tree yet? From the information you sent me I found three different styles that I thought would be good. Each are eighteen feet, so we'll need to find a way to get it back to your house, but I think between the two of us we could manage. I narrowed it down to two traditional style trees and one white one." She showed him the pictures, and he found himself drawn to one of the green ones. It was fake, but it was full bodied and looked like it would be full of life once it was up.

"I like that one."

He saw Marinette turn to another one of her sticky notes. "I had a feeling that would be the one you picked." She had a smile on her face and the warm lights of the Christmas Tree beside them illuminated some of the freckles that lightly dusted her nose and cheeks. It was really cute. She narrowed her eyes as she looked. The page she was browsing had lists of names, phone numbers, addresses, prices, more than anything he could imagine. "Why don't we pick it up form this store. We'll have to carry the tree back ourselves since the store doesn't have shipping, but it's close to where you told me your address was and the price is the lowest."

"Money isn't an issue for me, Marinette. If you're worried, don't be."

"It's easy to spend a lot of money on decorations, so I don't want you to be surprised by any of the bills. I want you to have an awesome tree, Adrien, but I don't want you to break the bank doing so. I'm sure our definitions of breaking the bank are different, but still. I don't want to seem like I'm just using you for money."

That's what she was worried about. He'd indulge her, for now. She seemed to know what she was talking about. "Alright. We'll go get the tree and set it up. After we can go out for lunch and start thinking about decorations?"

She nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

They left the bakery, Adrien holding the door open for Marinette as they did so, and walked to the shop where the tree was. It was in a large box and carrying it was definitely a job for two people. They bought the tree and attracted stares from people as they walked back to Adrien's house. Both of them underestimated the walk, both exhausted before they were halfway there. "Do you think we could fit this into a taxi?" Adrien asked, panting, slightly chuckling, looking at the exhausted girl.

She shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. I don't see any big enough." She hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry. We should have gone somewhere where we could have gotten the tree delivered. This is my fault."

"No! This is a lot of fun. So what if we hit a bump in the road... or a tree in the sidewalk? This has still been one of the best days of my life, and it's only going to get better, isn't it? This is the hard part, but once we're done with this then we get to have fun."

It looked like his pep talk was working and light started to come back into Marinette's eyes. "You're right. Let's get this back and then we can start on the fun stuff." She went to pick up the tree, but Adrien could see that her arms were shaking.

"Why don't I call in some reinforcements? I have a friend who might be able to help us out." Adrien was pretty sure Nino had the day off, a phone call conforming that. Nino was coming to help, bringing Alya with him. "Okay, I have a friend who is on his way. We just need hang until he gets here." Adrien rolled his shoulders back and looked at the girl beside him. "Are you cold? There's a bakery there you can go sit in. I'll guard the tree."

"No way. I'm not leaving you alone to freeze. We're in this together." She held out a fist to him for a fist bump and he playfully returned it.

"Together, right."

While they waited Adrien asked Marinette about herself. He asked her about her designs and what she liked. While the topic of designing usually bored Adrien, the subject was given new life coming from Marinette. There was one thing Adrien knew already. After the holidays he would keep in touch with her. He didn't want to lose her as a friend. Could he call her that yet? He hoped so.

"Dude! When you said you had a massive tree you needed help with I thought you were exaggerating, but this is crazy!" Nino ran over to the pair, Alya at his heels. He stopped and gave Marinette a look. "What are you doing here, Mari?"

"Mari? Do you two know each other?"

Alya smiled. "Yeah, this is my best friend! She did Nino's apartment last year. Small world, huh?"

"Yeah, it is." He looked at Marinette with fresh eyes. This was Alya's best friend? Whenever he hung out with Alya she was always talking about her amazing designer friend who Adrien would love. He thought she said that just because his father was a designer, not because Marinette was actually an incredible person. He regretted not meeting the girl sooner. "Well come on, elves. We've got a Christmas tree to get home and set up."

"Who's idea was it to carry a huge-ass tree through the snow?" Nino asked. "Both of y'all are crazy enough to try something like this."

Neither of them answered and Nino would never find out.

It took three hours to get the tree home and figure out how to set it up, but it looked amazing once it was in the room. Adrien glanced at Marinette. She was gazing at the tree with a critical eye, fluffing the branches and fixing things he never would have noticed. He was thankful to have met her.

* * *

 _I choose Danganronpa as the video game simply so I could make the voice actor joke. Adrien and Makoto are played by the same voice actor in English. If you like mysteries I totally recommend that game. I'll see y'all tomorrow in the mean time!_


	5. Santa Clause is Coming to Town

Chapter Four: Santa Clause is Coming to Town

"Thank you so much for helping me out," Adrien thanked Nino and Alya for probably the fiftieth time that day while they walked over to a cafe for lunch. "You guys are seriously life savers."

"Dude, if you say thank you one more time today I'm going to punch you." Nino appreciated his friends thankfulness, but the words themselves got old fast.

"I just really appreciate it! I really am thank- ow!" Adrien was rubbing his arm where Nino punched it. "Okay, fine. I wont say it anymore." He decided he would just pay for all their lunches instead. That was a good way to show his appreciation.

He looked at Marinette and Alya, who's backs were to him and Nino. They were laughing, their arms linked together as they strolled down the street. Both were attractive women, attracting the attention of some of the other young men walking down the street, but Nino didn't seem to mind the attention his girlfriend was getting, and the two girls didn't seem to notice, so Adrien left it be. "So what's this famous cafe you're taking us to, Alya?" Adrien asked, raising his voice to grab the girl's attention.

"Oh! It's the cafe that has the _best_ soups and sandwiches. I thought that we would all want something warm."

"It's not-"

"It is!"

Adrien and Marinette both gave Alya and Nino questioning looks at the sudden excitement and outbursts. "It's not what?" Adrien dared ask.

"Well," the tips of Nino's ears started to go pink, a bit of a wistful smile spreading on his face, "it's actually where Alya and I met, and had our first date."

"Ah."

Adrien knew this story well. Nino had gone to a random cafe one day just because it had free wifi, allowing him to open his laptop and create new playlists, and the only table that was available was next to a table where a "really fiery woman that kept staring at him and I don't know what to do Adrien please help me she's still looking at me!" The girl then came over to talk to him. Turns out she wasn't staring at him because she was interested. Nino hadn't plugged his headphones in and she could hear the music from her seat. She said he was lucky he had good taste. She then brought her own laptop over and took the seat across from him. The rest was history. Both Marinette and Adrien were curious to see the place where their friends met the love of their life.

The cafe was unassuming. There were no holiday lights, no christmas decorations, but even more, there was no sign advertising the restaurant, just the hours printed on the window next to a sign that said "free wifi." They walked in and no one else was there, except for a friendly looking woman probably in her fifties behind the counter. There were only two tables, each with only two chairs. "Alya, Nino! It's nice to see you again. You brought some friends this time?"

"Hey Mrs. P! These are our friends Adrien and Marinette. They needed a bit of help setting up a Christmas tree." Nino turned to Adrien and Marinette. "Guys, this is Mrs. Perreault, the owner and the genius behind these great soups."

Adrien held out a hand to the woman in a friendly handshake. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Adrien. You and your girlfriend there are a lovely couple." He could feel the heat rising to his face at the woman's words.

"Oh- um, we're not-" Adrien was stuttering for words, trying to figure out how to correct the woman.

"A-Adrien isn't um, we aren't-" and Marinette was doing the same thing, attempting to correct Mrs. Perreault between stutters.

Alya and Nino were both laughing. "It's not that funny," Marinette pouted.

"No, it really is!" Alya was wiping tears from the corner of her eye, attempting to not smear mascara everywhere. "Mrs. Perreault told me and Nino the same thing after the whole headphone incident. We're just having a major case of de ja vu." Alya didn't mention that Mrs. Perrault was also a self proclaimed match maker and everyone she deemed a lovely couple ended up falling madly in love. That would be a secret Alya and Nino kept to themselves for the time being. "Can we have four orders of the potato soup?"

"I'll have that right out," she said, heading to the back to ladle the soup into bowls. "You all go take a seat in the meantime."

Alya and Nino quickly claimed the table on the left, Marinette and Adrien both assuming that was _their_ table, taking the one next to it. They attempted to make conversation with their friends, but both waved them off, giggling like little kids. "Come on you two! Enjoy your _date._ "

"Sorry about Alya. She tends to get a bit excited when I do anything with people other than her. I'm too much of a shut in, apparently."

Adrien was caught off guard by the confession. "You, a shut in? Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah, not really by choice. I just don't know a ton of people. I like to have good friends instead of a lot of friends. I'm also pretty shy, believe it or not. It's hard for me to talk to knew people."

"I'm the same way. Everyone I know tends to be superficial. Nino is probably the only friend I've got who isn't friends with me because of the Agreste name. Well, him and Alya by extension." He looked at the girl in front of him who started at him with big sad eyes. "It's not bad, I mean! It can just get kind of lonely at times."

"I know the feeling." He was captivated by those blue eyes. Was it really possible for eyes to be that color? It seemed too beautiful to be real, but there they were, right in front of him. "Why don't we be lonely together? If we're lonely together then we wont be lonely at all."

"I'd like that." He extended his hand to her in a fist bump and she bumped her first against him, smiling.

After lunch they parted ways with Alya and Nino, the two claiming they had to do some Christmas shopping. "So, do you want to get started on the tree? We can buy some lights and go from there?" Marinette was back in designer mode, with her binder flipped open to a checklist of different types of lights.

"That sounds fun." It really did. The lights were the base of the tree. It was difficult to imagine a Christmas Tree without Christmas lights.

"Great. Well there are three different types of lights I thought would work, mini lights, dome lights, and C9 lights, but looking at the pictures you sent me I think mini lights are the way to go. They're the most traditional but they're easy to make whimsical if that the route you end up wanting to go."

Adrien could comprehend there being different colors of lights but he hadn't imagined there being different types of bulbs. It made sense. There were different types of bulbs for normal lights. It only made sense that Christmas lights would have a variety as well. "I'll go with whatever you think is best, Mari."

She looked at him, startled. "What did you call me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I heard Nino call you Mari earlier and I thought it was," he thought it was cute but there was no way he would say that, "I'm sorry. I'll go back to calling you Marinette if you want."

She shook her head and retreated inward, a small smile grazing her lips as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "No, it's fine. I like Mari." Her head lifted and she was giving him a megawatt smile that would put any of the lights to shame. "It's really nice! We're actually friends now, huh?"

"Yeah, friends." What was the warm feeling in his stomach? "So is that all? We're getting mini lights?"

"Almost. We just have to decide on a color. Personally I think the warm white would look the best, but you seem to strike me as a multicolor man." There were four colors to choose from and she was right in thinking that warm white and multicolor were the most intriguing to him.

"I strike you as a multicolor man? Huh," he flipped through the designs of the trees, smiling at all of the options, "I think you're right. Multicolor it is!"

The trip to the store this time was a lot strenuous. They were able to carry the boxes of lights home without calling for backup, much to their delight, and unpack the multicolored lights and attempt to get the tree lit up. This process proved to take longer than assembling the Christmas Tree, as three of the boxes of lights didn't work, so they needed to return to the store and exchange them, then wrap up the tree, which was difficult. Adrien was wrapped in the lights no less than six times, and Marinette tripped over the wires at least eight times. Still, they had Christmas music playing and were making stupid bets with each other, laughing, taking breaks to drink water and hot chocolate. Adrien let Marinette have access to his kitchen and she whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, which she planned to bake, but the two of them just ate with spoons straight out of the bowl. "Is decorating always this fun?" Adrien asked, putting the empty cookie dough bowl in the sink.

"Not usually. I mean, I have a lot of fun decorating, but this is the most fun I've ever had. You're great company Adrien." She sighed and looked outside, seeing it was dark and the snow had picked up once again. She had been here longer than she thought. "I better get going. Do you want to meet at the bakery tomorrow morning again? Nine? We can go out and buy ornaments. By this time tomorrow you'll have a completely decorated tree."

Would that be the end? No more decorating and eating cookie dough with Marinette? No more loudly singing Christmas Carols off key and dancing around, tripping over one another? No more amaretto spiked hot chocolate to make them slightly giggly as they tried to complete their work? "Well," he looked around, trying to find something to latch onto. "Maybe you can help me with the fireplace as well? I don't know anything about decorating a mantel, and I don't have a stocking. Where will Santa put my gifts?"

"Tsk, Adrien. Asking another favor right after we're almost done with our little project?" There was a stern expression on the girl's face, causing Adrien to doubt himself. Was Marinette not enjoying herself like he was? Would this drive her away? Did he just jeopardize their new friendship? "Don't look so serious! I'm just messing with you!" She gave a laugh and the tension Adrien was holding dissolved. "I'd love to decorate your mantel, and I'm sure we can find a stocking for you somewhere. Santa need a place to put all that coal." She shrugged on her jacket and made her way to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Tomorrow it is then."

Marinette left and Adrien's head was spinning. What was this girl doing to him? He had never met anyone like her. He just met her a few days ago but it seemed like he knew her longer. His heart beat faster when she was around. Being around her felt right. He shook his head. He wouldn't do anything with Marinette. She was just a friend. A friend. He had a fiancé anyway. He'd never forgive himself if he hurt Chloe. She loved him and he wouldn't break her heart because he was selfish. Still, a question lingered in the back of his mind.

What if?


	6. Baby it's Cold Outside

Chapter Five: Baby it's Cold Outside

Nine couldn't come soon enough for Adrien. It had been a week since the two had started their daily routine of meeting at the bakery and shopping. The tree just needed some final touches, a few more ornaments, but everything was coming along nicely. The mantle was well underway, with undecorated, but well lighted garland stinging across the top of the fireplace. He was eagerly anticipating going back to the bakery and eating more of the best macrons he had ever eaten and enjoying more of the incredibly creamy hot chocolate, but more than anything he was excited to see Marinette. They were going to buy Christmas ornaments, but they were also going to buy supplies to decorate the mantle, so when eight thirty came he hurried to the bakery, forgetting one of his gloves, but not caring. He didn't plan on going back for something he could live without.

He arrived at the bakery and waited in the long line again. When Sabine saw him she gave him a smile, grabbing the macrons and placing them in a bag, passing him a hot chocolate, insisting the baked goods were on the house once again, before Adrien went back to the table he had seated himself at for the past week, enjoying his cookies while he waited for Marinette to come rushing down the stairs. He offered her a smile when he saw her, holding the binder in her hands once again. Her hair was loose, brushing her collarbones, slightly frizzy. A bit of toothpaste was on the corner of her lip and remnants of last night's makeup showed, a bit of mascara smearing just to the side of one eye. "I'm so sorry! I overslept!"

He gave her a laugh. "Don't worry. We're not in a hurry."

"It's just, we agreed to meet at nine and I woke up five minutes before and looked at the clock and, well, this is the result." She gestured to her disheveled appearance. Despite the bed head and smeared makeup and toothpaste remnants he noted she looked quite pretty still. She seemed like one of those people who would make someone happy waking up next to.

What if?

Perhaps in another universe he would have pursued Marinette. She intrigued him, could hold a conversation with him. None of the conversations they had thus far were particularly deep, but he had opened himself up faster to her than anyone else. She could probably give Nino a run for his money on personal matters. She just made him feel comfortable. He never found people like that. "Hey, are you okay, Adrien? You're spacing out."

"Was I?" He didn't realize the extent of his zoning out. Blinking back into reality he noticed he had been staring at her lips. He could wipe the toothpaste on the corner of her lip away with his thumb, give her a handsome smile and confess that he found her more fascinating than anyone had had ever met, but he wouldn't do that. He had Chloe. She was in New York, living it up with Sabrina, and would probably never know if he did something like that, but he didn't think he could face her again if he even contemplated cheating on her with the beautiful woman in front of him. He would just settle for being friends, and drifting into the dangerous territory that came with it. He let out a sigh and pointed to the corner of his own lip. "You have a bit of toothpaste on your mouth."

Marinette dug in her bag and pulled out her phone, using the front facing camera to check her appearance. "Ugh, this is the lamest! I'm so sorry, Adrien. Do you mind if I go upstairs and finish getting ready? I might be a while. I really need to wash my face. Actually, I should probably take a shower. I feel kind of gross."

"No worries, that' fine." He was trying to not imagine Marinette in the shower. A wet Marinette in the shower, with soap running down her body, rubbing her hands over herself to lather body wash... Dangerous waters, Agreste. "I'll wait here."

She shook her head. "I can't let you do that. You can wait up in my room. I have a PlayStation up there. You can play a game, if you want."

Marinette had video games? Was she any good? Were the games she played the bright colorful visual novel type games that required little skill? Or did she play gory fighting games where she could stab other online players with a knife? "Yeah, that sounds fun."

She led him up to her room, climbing a ladder and opening a trap door. The room was pale pink and gray in color, bright and inviting, girlie but not too much so. A television sat on a table next to a desktop computer, with a playstation plugged into it. A small shelf to the side housed a fairly sizable game library. "You can play whatever you want. Just log into the guest account I have."

He nodded and powered on the PlayStation while Marinette disappeared to go shower. He heard her turn the water on and was trying hard to focus on the play dough like man that was his avatar in the fighting game he was currently engaged in. He kept losing because he could hear the shower on and there was only a wall separating him from a beautiful girl on the other side. He tried to tell himself this wasn't a big deal. Chloe showered in his room all the time, and he would often play video games while she did so. He never was focused on her.

"It's just because I don't know Marinette. She's new. Exciting. After a while I'll forget about this." He knew he was lying to himself. He had chemistry with Marinette that he never had with Chloe. It wasn't just because she was new. He had never had these thoughts about someone else before. He didn't want to be lewd, but it was hard to keep his mind focused on the task at hand. Press circle. Play dough man does a headbutt. Marinette starts singing in the shower. Press triangle. Play dough man's hands go in the air. Marinette is probably running shampoo through her hair. Left trigger. Right trigger. The little green avatar grabs onto his opponent. The water turns off. His character is thrown off screen, losing the game.

He put the controller down, quitting. He wasn't going to get anywhere like this. He opened his phone and studied his Mandarin using one of his language apps instead. This proved to occupy his mind better. Marinette was using the hair dryer, so she almost had to be ready to go. He heard the door open and looked at her, a blush nearly instantaneously consuming his face. She was standing there in just a towel wrapped around her body, face red. "I forgot to grab my clothes," she said quietly, looking at her feet, avoiding eye contact with him at all costs. He wasn't sure if he should keep looking at her or turn away, deciding the latter was probably the proper reaction after his shocked brain was able to figure out what was happening.

"Yeah, o-okay!" He focused really on his phone but the Mandarin was no longer keeping his mind occupied. He could hear her open drawers, possibly searching for undergarments and he really needed to stop thinking about this. He let out a sigh of relief when he heard her go back into the bathroom. He put down his phone and started to massage his temples. What was this girl doing to him? Did she know she was doing this? He needed to text Nino later and tell him that Alya's best friend was a devil disguised behind a pretty face.

"Are you ready to go? Or do you have a headache?" He must have been in that position longer than he thought, because Marinette was staring at him with those big blue eyes. The freckles on her cheeks were illuminated and he remembered that he saw a few of those freckles dusting her shoulders. He was jealous of his alternate universe self- the one that was able to ask Marinette out and trace the freckles on her shoulders.

"No, I'm fine. I'm ready to head out whenever you are!" They were shopping for Christmas ornaments. There was nothing innately arousing about that. They would just go look around and pick out different ornaments to put on his tree. Nothing else. Well, he supposed there was the fireplace mantle.

"Wait, one second." He watched as she went to a chaise that sat in the room with a small Christmas present beautifully wrapped on it. "Here, this is for you."

"What?" He took the box, curiously. "I can't accept this, Marinette. You've already done too much for me."

"Not at all! Open it!"

He did so, reluctantly, carefully pulling the ribbon off and using his index finger to break the seal the tape and paper made, opening the box and finding a dark green stocking with the letter "A" woven in careful calligraphy. "This is amazing," he breathed.

"Well, you don't have a stocking and Santa needs somewhere to put that coal you're bound to get."

"I hope I'm not the nice list! This is too amazing to just put coal in." He wrapped his arms around her. "Thank you so much!"

"Really, it's not a problem. It was fun to make." Marinette started to head out the room, gesturing for Adrien to go ahead, him obliging, going down the steps and leaving the living part of the home, heading back into the bakery and leaving the front door with Marinette. He started to put his gloves back on, remembering he left one of them back at his house.

"Where's your other glove?" Marinette asked worriedly.

"I left it at home. I didn't lose it, I just forgot it."

"Won't you get cold?"

He shook his head, shoving his hand in his pocket. "I'm fine. Don't worry."

He saw something flash in Marinette's eyes. Fear, questioning, he didn't know what, but a moment later her gloved hand was in his pocket with his, her fingers wrapping around his. "You need to stay warm, you know? It suck if you got sick and had to miss Christmas because of it, especially after all the hard work you put in."

She was worried about him. It was really cute. He wasn't going to betray Chloe by holding Marinette's hand, was he? Friends could hold hands. He moved his hand around in his pocket so their fingers were interwoven. "I think it'll be better like this."

This was dangerous. He couldn't do this, but it felt right. He let out a sigh and the girl walking beside him gave him a questioning look. "Are you okay?"

"No, not really."

"What's wrong?"

He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her that over this last week that he had been falling for her, harder than he thought possible. He wanted to tell her that he was engaged to someone who would never make him feel this way in a million years. He wanted to tell her that when he saw that toothpaste on the corner of her mouth he wanted to take it off. He wanted to tell her that while she was in the shower he couldn't stop thing about her, and how amazing she must have looked while dripping with water.

Instead he lied. "Nothing. Just didn't sleep well last night."

"Well, we can postpone and get the rest of the supplies tomorrow if you'd like."

And lose out on this time they could hang out? "No, it's okay. I'll pull through. I'm strong, you know."

"Okay, but don't strain yourself. If you need anything let me know."

He sighed. "I just need to know I'm not an awful person." He felt like he was betraying the blonde girl that had promised her life to him. She didn't deserve this.

"Why do you think you're an awful person?"

"Because my head is telling me something and my heart is telling me something else."

Marinette stopped walking and took her hand out of his pocket, unweaving her fingers. She took her hand and placed it on his chest. "Well, from my experience, you should listen to your heart. The head thinks too much, but the heart knows what it really wants." She took her hand away and put it back in it's former position and they continued to walk.

Listen to his heart, huh? He looked at Marinette. His heart was definitely following her.

* * *

 _Sorry for the late update today! I was at work until two and then I needed to come home and type out the entire chapter… I have sort of run out of prewritten chapters, but I have the story completely plotted and I have tomorrow off so hopefully I can get a few days written. The game Adrien is playing… well attempting to play in this chapter was Gang Beasts. It's a lot of fun! Well, I'll see y'all tomorrow. Let me know what y'all think!_


	7. All I Want for Christmas is You

Chapter Six: All I Want for Christmas is You

Nighttime fell over Paris. Couples walked hand in hand down a small street where vendors attempted to sell various homemade wares under artificial lights. The couples would lean into one another, whispering inside jokes, laughing, gazing at one another lovingly. Among these couples was Adrien Agreste, holding paper shopping bags filled with various ornaments. "Look at this!" He watched as the girl accompanying him ran excitedly booth to booth, gathering an assortment of brightly colored glass balls and fun figurines. He watched as she looked over the brightly colored ornaments, her eyes landing on a peculiar one.

He watched her pick it up and examine it. It was glass with a black cat with shining green eyes pawing after a ladybug. "You have a good eye, young lady." The man running the booth said. He was short, leaning on a cane, with a festive Hawaiian style shirt on. "The black cat and ladybug, one of my favorites. Black cats are unlucky, but ladybugs signify good luck. Good luck cannot exist without bad luck, and bad luck cannot exist without good. In every duo, wether it be friends, family, lovers, or enemies, there is always one person that is the black cat and another who is the ladybug."

"That's interesting." She stroked the ornament with her thumb and showed it to Adrien. "Isn't it beautiful."

"Yeah, it is." He looked at the light bouncing off the sparkling glass, but then found himself looking into her eyes. "I wonder which of us is the black cat, huh? Seems like no one would want to embody bad luck in a relationship."

The man picked up his cane and lightly hit Adrien on the head, causing him to let out a small yelp and turn to him in surprise. "What was that for?"

"One is not better than the other. Good luck and bad luck are created equal. Bad luck can lead to good luck in the future and good luck can lead to trouble."

Marinette was laughing, looking at Adrien who was still rubbing his head. "Well, I guess that makes me the back luck, huh, Mari?"

"I guess so," she took a step towards the seller, preparing to buy the ornament for the tree, before stumbling, nearly falling onto the snow covered ground, only to be caught in Adrien's arms. "Or, maybe I'm the bad luck."

He refused to believe Marinette was bad luck when she was the single greatest thing that happened to him since his mother died, but just shrugged in response. "I don't know. Maybe." She was the ladybug, though. This was an undeniable fact, in his mind at least. All he could hope was her good luck outweighed his bad. He didn't want to be a cause of misfortune in her life. He did understand what the old an was saying, though. Some people are just luckier than others. His life history, despite coming from a wealthy family and getting pretty much everything he wanted, made him believe he was one the unlucky ones. Chloe certainly made him feel that way. Marinette didn't. Maybe that's what lucky people were there for, to help the unlucky people find happiness.

"Sir, we'll buy this ornament." Out of all the ones they had bought, this one was his favorite. He glanced around and saw a purple butterfly with a peacock. "I'll take that one, too." The elegant peacock was gazing up at the butterfly, the light catching it's glass wings, shining down on the bird. The two looked happy together, playful and elegant. They reminded him of his parents before his mother died. "It can be for my father. We don't have an ornament for him, yet." He knew he wouldn't ever tell the man that this ornament was for him, or that he decorated for the holidays in the first place, but it felt wrong to exclude his family. He contemplated buying an ornament for Chloe, but something felt weird about doing so. He was willing to accept her as part of his family, but it was still months away. He'd get her an ornament to celebrate their first Christmas together.

Or maybe she could be the ladybug to his black cat. The more he thought about it, it seemed like he and Chloe were a pair of black cat navigating the world on a tightrope, tiptoeing around one another. He's known Chloe for most of his life, but he felt like he connected better with Marinette. No, just just felt. He _knew_ he connected better with the girl beside him. The shower incident yesterday taught him that. He never had lewd thoughts about Chloe while she was in the shower, but something about Marinette sparked bright eyed and fiery interest. His eyes watched her this whole time, watching her look over the two ornaments, comparing them, pure joy in those bright blue eyes. If his heart could melt it would have a long time ago. He just wanted to watch her all day. He wanted to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear and pull her close, take her in his arms and declare she was his. Betrayal stung, though. He knew the feeling.

Three years ago a picture of an eighteen year old Chloe surfaced on the internet. She was at a party, Sabrina at her side, a glass filled with a bright blue drink in one hand, her other hand in the hair of another man. Her lips were locked on his. She promised Adrien that it was jut a one time thing, that kissing the other guy had proved to be a mistake, but she was really drunk. She couldn't help herself. She promised to only have eyes for him from then on. He chose to believe her, knowing the alternative was being lonely, breaking an engagement his father had wanted. Media outlets shamed Adrien for staying with the blonde girl while other outlets praised Chloe for taking control of her own life, like he was oppressing her or something. It was almost comical.

"Hey, are you okay?" A tap on his shoulder pulled him out of his trance and his eyes landed on small freckles dotting cheekbones. "You seemed pretty out of it." Those freckles, like spots. She was his ladybug.

"Yeah, I was just thinking." He pulled out his credit card and passed it to the man, who charged him for the two ornaments with a smile.

"There you are, young man." The card was passed back with a kind smile. "Now take care of that lovely girlfriend of yours."

"I- she- we aren't dating." If only that were the truth.

"Why aren't you?" He lowered his voice and gestured for Adrien to come closer, so only he could hear the instructions from the man. "Get her while you can. It's obvious you care for her from the way you look at her." He gave a small chuckle. "And from the view of an outsider, it seems like the two of you were made for each other."

"It's complicated." His voice was filled with regret and sadness. He was closer to Marinette than he ever was to Chloe in the few days. Everything was real. There was no drama. Nothing was for attention's sake. He wanted Marinette, but it was rough to want something when he couldn't have it.

"She won't wait forever. The way she looks at you, she feels the same way. Leave that fiancé of yours, Adrien, and pursue something that will actually be worth it in the end."

"How did you know about my fiancé?"

The man held up a tabloid magazine, a large photo of an A-list celebrity taking up most of the cover, but there was a smaller picture of him and Chloe holding hands in the corner, Chloe looking ecstatic, and himself looking positively bored. "The decision is yours, young man, but I'm confident you will choose correctly in the end." The man opened the magazine, reading the trashy stories, a cryptic smile on his face, efectively ending the conversation.

"Come on, let's go." Adrien said to Marinette. He offered his elbow to her and she took it, then lowered his beanie on his head so onlookers wouldn't realize who he was, before the two of them made his way back to his home.

Upon getting to his house Marinette busied herself with placing the new ornaments on the tree while Adrien set up the fire in an attempt to warm the large house, before sitting on the couch, turning on music. "So what was that man saying to you that was such a big secret?"

Adrien could feel the tips of his ears get warm as he thought about the man declaring the the two of them should be together. "Uh, it was nothing."

"Are you sure? It seemed like quite the conversation to just be nothing. You seemed a bit embarrassed, really." She could tell just from watching? Maybe he really wasn't the only one with eyes for the other.

"I- uh, my fly was down and he was just trying to tell me discreetly."

"Was it?" She turned her attention away from the tree and faced him. "I didn't notice." Her words dawned on her and she took steps backwards away from him, her breathing picking up, "I-I mean, I wasn't looking or anything. I just happen to notice a lot of stuff when it comes to you- I mean when it comes to clothes since I want to be a designer and all. I wasn't looking, not that I shouldn't have been looking because I'm sure people look all the time and oh my gosh I really need to stop talking because I'm just digging a deeper-" she tripped over a box and fell backwards, and Adrien sprang to his feet, offering a hand to her.

"We've got to stop meeting like this."

"I- I'm sorry. I'm so clumsy and I just keep causing you trouble and," her eyes looked at the black cat and ladybug ornament that now hung on the tree. "I guess I really am unlucky."

"I don't think so." Adrien pulled Marinette to her feet and escorted her to the couch. "You're, without a doubt, the best thing that has happened to me since my mother died." He looked at the peacock and butterfly and let out a sigh. "That's the reason we don't celebrate Christmas anymore. Christmas Eve, when I was eight we were out looking at Christmas lights. It was our tradition, and when we were on our way home a driver hit a patch of ice and spun out of control, and headed directly for me." Adrien let out a shaky breath. He had never talked about his mother's death to anyone, not even Nino. "My mother pushed me out of the way and got hit instead. She saved my life, and gave her own. My dad never blamed me, but he distanced himself. Christmas was my mother's favorite holiday, but we haven't celebrated it since her death. It always made my father too sad."

He felt pressure on his hand and saw Marinette had placed her own over his. "I'm sorry. That sounds horrible. No kid should ever have to experience that." She licked her lips and looked down at her feet, seemingly fixated on the way she tapped her toes. "I can't imagine living without my mom."

"Hey, it's not your fault. It happened years ago." An image of a little girl with bright blue eyes wearing a large bow entered his mind. She lived at a bakery and gave him cookies when he disappeared right before his mother's death. He thought she was amazing. He couldn't believe he forgot all about her until this moment. Looking at Marinette it was very possible she was the same girl from that bakery. The was the best part of that Christmas, and she continued to be the best part of this Christmas. She was a lucky charm. She was a lucky charm who probably deserved better than a black cat like him, but he wasn't going to let that deter him. If nothing else, they would be friends, no matter how much his heart wanted more.

* * *

 _I can't believe we're over halfway done with this story. Only six more chapters to go, it's insane!_

 _So fun story, my younger sister got back from college for break yesterday and found a stray dog and brought her home. My dog is now best friends with her, luckily, though my youngest sister's dog is a bit wary. Apparently she's going to keep her. I've been dealing with that all day, but things are going good though! I'll see y'all tomorrow! Let mw know what y'all think._


	8. Carol of the Bells

Chapter Seven: Carol of the Bells

"What do you want for Christmas, Marinette?" He was in the kitchen of the bakery, watching her skillfully place small mountains of frosting on top of a variety of different cupcake flavors. She had to go home early today and help out with an order for a Christmas party that was coming up, but he had insisted he go along. He didn't want to be left alone in the big house, and if he went to the bakery he might be able to snag one of the baked goods.

"What do you mean, what do I want for Christmas? You really don't have to get me anything, Adrien." He watched as she placed a dollop of frosting onto a chocolate cupcake before passing it over to him. Coming over to the bakery meant he had to help, but since he had no experience he was on sprinkle duty. He was to place three shakes of red blue sparkling sprinkles onto the white cupcakes, followed with two shakes of the snowflake shaped ones. He liked to think he was doing good at his job, but when his eyes had a tendency to wander away from the bakes goods and onto the hands of the one creating them. Asking what she wanted for Christmas was a good way to occupy his mind so he wouldn't think of other things her hands could be doing.

"Come on, you've done so much for me this year. You did my tree and mantle. You made me a stocking. I've got to repay you somehow."

"It's a gift, Adrien. We're friends. Friends give each other gifts and don't need to be repaid for them." She let out a sigh and shook her head before putting frosting on a vanilla flavored cupcake.

"Well I'm asking what gift I should get my friend then." She glared at him with those blue eyes, slightly exasperated, but he stick his tongue out at her. "Come on, Mari, friends give each other gifts. You just said so yourself."

"I'm not going to answer, you know." Her cheeks puffed out indignantly and lip jutted out in just the smallest pout.

"Fine, then I'll just ask Alya." If Marinette didn't tell him what to get her then her best friend would. "She'll ask what my budget is and I'll say, oh, maybe five hundred? Pocket change, really." He gave her a wink, knowing that she hated when others spent money on her, and someone casually dropping five hundred was probably something she couldn't comprehend.

When he did get her a gift he wouldn't spend five hundred on it, probably. He would find something she would genuinely like, no matter the price tag. "Why don't we make a deal," Marinette said, putting down the piping bag and making eye contact with him, "I'm not going to be able to deter you, but I'd hate myself if you spent a fortune, so how about this, you can get me something, but it cannot cost more than twenty euros. Deal?" She held out her hand and Adrien took it happily.

"We've got a deal." He shook her hand with enthusiasm. Perhaps too much enthusiasm, because Marinette's forearm slammed down on the piping bag, sending a stream of white cream cheese frosting towards Adrien, the sweet substance hitting him on the cheek and dripping down his face.

Marinette couldn't help but laugh, seeing her cupcake partner in crime in such an interesting position. She took a finger and wiped the frosting off of his cheek, putting the finger in her mouth, smiling all the while. "Hmm, Adrien, you taste pretty sweet."

He tried to hide the heat that came to his face and grabbed the piping bag and squirting Marinette, hitting her jaw. He brought her close and used his finger, doing the same trick she had done moments before, using his finger to get the frosting off and licking it off his finger. "Really? I'm sure I'm nothing compared to you."

The innuendo was not lost on her and he saw the blood rush to her face, dusting her cheeks with red. He looked into her eyes and saw she was staring back. They stood there for moments, minutes, hours, years, the time didn't really matter, but they gazed into one another's eyes, lost in the seas of blue and green. "W-we should get back to work," Marientte said, pulling away from him, attempting to regain her composure.

"How many more are there?" He felt like they had done dozens of cupcakes and, even though he was just sprinkling the treats, he was getting tired, or perhaps bored of the repetitive task. "It feels like we've been doing this forever."

"Well, the order was for three hundred cupcakes. We'll be here all day if you keep having that attitude."

"Three hundred? Who on earth could possibly need that many cupcakes?"

Marinette's shoulders bunched up and sagged back down. "I don't know. We always get big orders like this around this time of year. Companies host Christmas parties and they always want desserts. I can't really blame them for coming to us, though. My parents make the best sweets in Paris."

"I can't argue with that." Adrien took one of the "ugly" cupcakes that they weren't going to give to the consumer and shoved it in his mouth in one bite, which proved to be a mistake because he was now choking on vanilla cake, coughing a attempting to make his way to the fridge for a water bottle. Fortunately, his companion took mercy on him and grabbed the bottle for him, passing the drink to him and rubbing circles on his back until the entirety of the cake went down. "Thank you, M'Lady."

"Dummy," she picked the piping bag back up while Adrien reached for another one of the cupcakes, only to have his hand slapped by Marinette. "No! What is wrong with you?"

"Ow!" He rubbed his hand, laughing, "What was that for."

"For being a dumb-ass who inhales his food. You have to sprinkle another hundred cupcakes, then you'll get to eat one."

"A hundred?"

"It's not that much. If we bunker down we'll get it done in no time!" She rolled her shoulders back and hunkered down.

"Yes ma'am." He took one of the undecorated cupcakes and did three shakes of the sparkling blue sprinkles and two of the snowflakes. "Hey, Marinette, do you remember a few years ago a little boy getting lost and having to get reunited with his parents."

"Yeah. Did my dad tell you about that?"

"No, um," Adrien put the cupcake up with the other completed ones and reached for another undecorated cake, "actually I was that kid. I was just thinking about that the other day when you and I were hanging out. You reminded me of the last Christmas Eve I was really happy." He sighed. "And you were the best part of that Christmas." One shake. Two shakes. Three shake. Change sprinkles. One shake. Two shakes. Put the cupcake with the finished ones. "I guess history is repeating itself."

"How so?"

"Being the best part. My best Christmas's you've been there. Hell, it isn't even Christmas yet and I know it's going to be incredible because of you." He grabbed another of the cakes and went about his job. "I guess I just really wanted to thank you. You've been involved in my life more than you know."

"Did your mother die the year after we met?"

"No, um," he didn't know how to tell her this, "we were actually on our way home. It was right after your family helped me. That's when it happened."

"Oh." There was something heavy in her voice, something he shouldn't have been able to identify, because the emotions involved were so complex, but he knew what she was feeling nonetheless.

"Please don't blame yourself, Mari. This was, in no way, your fault."

"How did you know I was?"

He spared her a look and saw her face downcast, the piping bag on the counter. "You just have that kind of heart. You'll take all the blame on yourself to spare others from feeling pain. You're incredible, like that."

"Incredible, huh?" She looked at him again, the sadness starting to evaporate. "No one had ever described me as incredible."

"Huh, that's strange. It's one of the words I most associate with you. Right after kind and right before fascinating."

"Kind, incredible and fascinating, huh? You must have a really high opinion of me." She chuckled, the humor returning, the corners of her mouth upturned slightly.

"I mean, fourth on the list is clumsy, so, you know, there's that."

"I am not that-" Marinette took a few steps towards him, ready to assault him with the frosting again, but slipped, reaching for Adrien's arm as she fell, bringing him down with her, her landing on her back his knees on either side of her waist. It was a rather compromising position when taken out of context. The baffled and bashful expressions on both of their faces betraying the fact that they knew this. "I guess I am that clumsy," was all Marinette could bring herself to say.

"It's cute. Clumsy is cute." He wasn't thinking when he spoke, his mind focused solely on the girl underneath him, thoughts of Chloe completely escaping his mind. Chloe didn't matter anymore. Only Marinette. The tension was there.

He felt himself lowering, his lips reaching for hers, and her head reaching up for his. He placed his hand on top of hers, seeking the warmth and strength that she gave him. Their breath grew heavy, both their hearts speeding up in anticipation, his lips just about to brush hers. He could feel her breath intertwine with his.

"How much longer on the cupcakes, dear?" They both pulled away, blushing profusely. Sabine was looking at the two of them with a playful smirk. "Well, I guess I see why it's taking so long. Next time wait for the mistletoe." Sabine left the kitchen and went out to join Tom managing the front.

"I- uh, sorry." Adrien lifted himself off of Marinette and extended a hand to her, helping her to her feet. "That- I-" his only solace was seeing that Marinette was seemingly as flustered as he was.

"No, like it I did, I mean, did like it I, _merde_. I'm sorry."

"I should... go. Um, I'll see you tomorrow, nine?"

Marinette nodded, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, nine. Your place or mine?"

His place. Definitely his. "Mine. I, uh, will see you then!"

He practically ran out of the bakery, trying to make sense of what just happened. He had almost kissed Marinette. Marinette had slipped and he'd fallen down on top of her, and that was all they needed for the chemistry between them to finally become too much. He wanted nothing more than to kiss Marinette, but doing so would betray Chloe, betray his father, but not kissing her would betray his heart.

He sighed, was it okay for him to betray himself? If his mother were still alive then she would tell him to go for it, to pursue Marinette. The heart knows what it wants. He also realized that if his mother was still alive he probably would never had been engaged to Chloe in the first place. That was all to please his father.

Would his father be disappointed if he ended this? These few days he had fallen harder for Marinette than he had for years with Chloe. Chloe made him regret being Adrien, but Marinette made him feel like Adrien was okay.

He would call his father first thing tomorrow, and call Chloe tonight. He had to break it off. He couldn't do this anymore. He wasn't going to betray his heart and force himself to stay with someone who didn't make him happy for the sake of pleasing his father. Adrien deserved happiness as well. He pulled out his phone and dialed Chloe's number the phone ringing and eventually going to voicemail. "Hey, Chloe, we need to talk. Call me when you get this. It's urgent." He hung up and sighed. He hated to do this to her, to his oldest friend, but he had to. He hoped he and Chloe could remain friends in the end, but he was willing to risk their relationship in order to follow his heart.

* * *

 _Okay, chapter title really has nothing to do with anything that happened in this chapter, but I couldn't find one that matched the theme that I wasn't planning on using in future chapter… so Carol of the Bells it is! (One of my favorite songs.)_

 _Y'all are so nice, these reviews have been incredible! Y'all, the support is really amazing. Seriously, amazing. I'll see y'all tomorrow!_


	9. I'll Be Home for Christmas

Chapter Eight: I'll Be Home for Christmas

The sound of a screaming alarm clock woke Adrien up. He turned on his side to see what time the monstrosity declared, sighing when it read eight. Marinette would be here in an hour, and he still had a lot to do. He had to get ready, shower, brush his teeth, get dressed, all those necessities, but he also had to call Chloe, tell her that the engagement was off. She would probably scream, cry, demand to know why this happened, but he would just tell her the truth. He likes someone else and he cannot keep betraying his heart. Chloe would be the easy one to handle. His father would be a different story.

Gabriel had chosen Chloe to be his future wife because she was everything that he deemed necessary in a wife: well off and from an influential family. There was no way he would approve leaving Chloe for some middle class baker's daughter. There was too much effort put into this arrangement. Years of finances and preparation all accumulated into next July, when their families united and became the Agreste-Bourgeois empire that was sure to take France, if not the world, by storm. Political success combined with business would create a fantastic merger. The empire created on the shoulders of Chloe and Adrien were the hope of both Gabriel and Andre. To leave eleven years of work behind for something so trivial as love... He doubted his father would understand. He didn't believe in love after his mother died.

Or he didn't want his son to ever feel heartbreak.

It must torment his father every day, having a broken heart, knowing the one he loved was never going to come back. His father was probably trying to protect him from the agony of heartbreak in his own way.

Images of Marinette flowed in his head. He imagined her pulling bread out of an oven, setting it on a table where she doted on him, pressing a kiss on his cheek, him standing up and pressing her her against the counter, sweet kisses quickly becoming more and more heated, before they start ripping off one another's clothes... he let out a breath. This needed to stop. He got out of bed to take a shower, hoping the hot water would erase the thoughts he was having, but the steam only intensified his emotions. The heat swelled up around him, and with the heat, so did his emotions. "Get a hold of your emotions, Agreste," he exhaled. "We haven't even kissed. I can't be thinking these things."

Instead he focused on the first thing he saw, a towel. A towel that was the same color as the stocking she got him. He stared at it intensely, the hot water pouring over him, rinsing the grime of the night away. "Towels. Towels just that, towels. They dry things. They cover things," the image of Marinette in a towel flared in his mind and he turned away. "Towel was not a good choice. Don't focus on towels. Focus on something else, like cheese. Stinky cheese. Camembert. It's gooey, smelly, no good." Thinking of cheese calmed him down and he just spent the rest of the shower thinking about cheese. He brushed his teeth thinking about cheese, which was rather confusing flavor-wise, but it kept him from- nope, cheese. Smelly cheese. He thought about cheese while he picked out clothes to wear for the day. It was nothing but cheese. Cheese until eight forty-five when he was finally ready for the day.

He rolled his shoulders and arched his back, popping his back, relaxing himself for the phone call he was about to make. He picked up his phone and dialed Chloe. She hadn't answered last night, so he had to wait until this morning, the guilt and anticipation weighing on him all night, mixing with the conflicting feelings of joy and excitement that came with Marinette. His sleep was rather restless. He said a quick prayer, praying that luck was on his side and Chloe wouldn't go insane and demand that the wedding not be cancelled. He prayed his father would accept his decision. He prayed for Marinette. He just needed strength. He pressed the contact name and the phone started ringing before going to voicemail like it had the night before. " _Merde!_ " He sent Chloe a quick text telling her to call him as soon as possible. She was probably too busy living it up in New York to be concerned about him.

The ringing of the doorbell pulled him away. He checked his phone, the time reading about three minutes after nine. It must be Marinette. He pushed aside the feeling of dread and focused his thoughts on the girl that was about to come in. THe amazing girl that he had connected with so fast. The one that had been there for him longer than either of them had initially known. He opened the large door, seeing her there with a paper bag and cup that he assumed were filled with pastries and hot chocolate. "Hey, Adrien." She cocked her head slightly to the side, causing her bangs to slip and fall slightly into her large blue eyes. She attempted to blow the strand away with her breath unsuccessfully, causing Adrien to lean in and move the strand away with his fingers, the tips brushing the side of her cheek, lingering slightly against her soft skin. The gesture caused both of their breaths to quicken, their heartbeats both raced. "I- um- I brought some macrons, since we were meeting here, you know? And some hot chocolate. It's cold today so I thought you might like some."

"Yeah, thanks." He took the bag and cup from her before letting her in. She removed her coat, gloves and scarf, placing them neatly on a small hook in the foyer that greeted the house. "So, what's the plan for today?"

She shrugged and licked her perfect pink lips. "I don't know. I think we're just about done with everything. The ornaments are all hung up, the mantle is lit and decorated... when we agreed to meet yesterday I wasn't even thinking. It's just become part of the routine to see you, you know?" She walked over to the tree and Adrien followed behind her like a love sick puppy dog. "I guess I'll just go over the final checks." She let out a sigh. "I'll be sad to see this end."

"We're going to see each other at Christmas, right? And I'll need help taking all this down. You'll be back for that, right?" He gazed at her longingly, "Besides, I have all sorts of video games. We can play those instead of decorate. And I can go back to the bakery. This isn't the end, Mari. It's just the beginning."

The smile she gave set him on fire, butterflies taking flight in his stomach, causing his hands to tremble slightly. "Yeah, the beginning."

The doorbell began to ring rapidly, pulling them both out of whatever stupor that they had found themselves in. "You better get that. It seems like it's important."

He nodded. "Yeah. I'll be right back."

Adrien would regret leaving her to open the door, because when he pulled it open it was _her._

"Adri-kins!" Chloe stood in front of him, dressed too impeccably to be real, a glossy smile shining on her face. She threw her arms around him the moment he let go of the door handle, Adrien, struggling to pull away from the blonde's grasp. Behind her was a bright yellow, too large suitcase stuffed to capacity with her various clothes and accessories.

"Um, hey, Clo? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in-"

"New York? Yeah, that got old quickly. Met the President, dined at a few five star restaurants, you know, but none of these people _knew_ me. They didn't know who I was or even who Daddy was! Really, it was a mess. I hit up a couple parties, got a bit too drunk a few times, but really it was a drag. I decided I'd come back and spend the rest of the holiday with you!" She grabbed her suitcase and marched past Adrien, who stood there gaping, not sure what to make of this situation, but he needed to tell Chloe that he did not want to spend the holiday with her anymore, and soon. Chloe was... affectionate, more than he cared for, and seeing her interact with him that way would certainly give Marinette the wrong idea.

"So the old man is still out of the country, Adr-kins? Talk about awesome! It'll just be you, me, and-" Chloe stopped once she got to the living area, seeing the decorated tree and mantle, a smile spreading on her face. "Oh wow, Adrien! This is beautiful! Who did you hire to do this? When we have our own home next year they should totally decorate our place. Maybe we can go for a different color scheme. I think silver and gold would be a bit better than the traditional red and green, huh? And these light, I mean the colors are fun but there's _too_ many. We should get those really bright white-blue ones! You know which ones I'm talking about?"

"Hey, Chloe? Can you sit down? I really need to talk to you."

"What about? I mean, the wedding is almost planned." She made her way to the couch and sat, and Adrien looked around for Marinette, not sure where she disappeared to. He joined Chloe on the couch, putting a good amount of distance between them, before Chloe scooted closer, draping one of her arms over his shoulders. "What do you _need,_ Adrien?" She lowered her voice in an attempt to be sultry, blinking her eyes slowly to solidify the effect, but he found himself immune to her charms.

"Chloe, I think I'm in love," he said, looking at Chloe, waiting for some kind of response from her, finding her lips on his before he had time to react. The sticky lip gloss was getting everywhere, his lips, cheeks, her hair, and he hated it. He pushed her off but the damage was done.

Marinette was standing in the entrance of the hall, her eyes filling with tears. She ran out of the house, leaving her coat, scarf and gloves behind. "Marinette, wait!" He called after her, but she was gone. He started to go after her, ready to chase her when he felt a force grab him, pulling him back. "Let me go, Chloe."

"No." She continued to have a firm grip on him, refusing to let him chase after her. "Adrien, who is she?"

"That's the girl I'm in love with." He said every word deliberately, hoping to make Chloe understand by some miracle. "Chloe, I'm sorry," he turned to face her, but her eyes were starting to fill with tears as well. How many girls was he going to make cry today? He looked at her, trying to find a way to let her down gently, without hurting her further.

"You're in love with her? Some random girl? What about me, Adrien?" The tears poured down her cheeks. "Adrien, I promised my life to you? I am in love with you, can't you see that?"

"What about those other guys? You've cheated on me! I- I didn't want to do that to you. I kept asking you to talk so I could let you go without betraying you."

"I don't want to go, Adrien! I want to stay here, with you!" She took the ring that she wore on her left finger off and shoved it in his face. "For over a decade this is the only future I've known! I am going to be your wife! What if I did this to you?"

"Then I'd wish you the best." He let out a sigh and placed a kiss on Chloe's forehead. "I really do wish you the best, Chlo. I really want you to be happy. I just want to be happy as well." He left her in his house, sobbing. Were Chloe's eyes always blue?

* * *

 _Sorry! I'm a bit late! I was at work then hung out with my friend and we played Gang Beasts for a while (the game Adrien attempted to play while Marinette showered a few chapters ago) but I got this cranked out! I hope y'all enjoy. We're getting close to the end, y'all! Bye until tomorrow!_


	10. Last Christmas

Chapter Nine: Last Christmas

Adrien ran to the bakery, not knowing where to find the baker's daughter. He was greeted with the same cheerful smile and warm welcome he was always given when he entered the bakery, the two parents obviously unaware that he had inadvertently hurt their daughter. If they had known then they wouldn't have the same joyful expressions they always wore when he came in. " _Bienvenue_ Adrien!" Sabine was working the front, reaching down to grab macarons as was his regular order, but he stopped her before she could reach the first one.

"Sorry, Mrs. Cheng. I'm actually looking for Marinette. Is she here?"

"Well she left the house this morning to meet you. We haven't see her since then. Did she not ever get to your place?"

He felt horrible. Marinette was missing and it was his fault. He should have told her about Chloe sooner. "She made it to my house just fine. I just upset her and she ran off. I don't know where she went."

Sabine gave him a sympathetic look and left her spot behind the counter. "Tom, take over the front," she called to the back. "I think Adrien needs to talk about something."

Were all mother's like this? Could they innately tell something was wrong and try to fix it? He hoped Sabine wouldn't hate him after he told her what had happened. She was always really kind to him. His mother died when he was so young that he hardly got to experience what it was like to have one. She placed a hand on his shoulder blade and led him up the stairs to their kitchen, where she started pulling ingredients out of the fridge and pantry. Rice, eggs, garlic, chicken broth, teriyaki sauce and soy sauce were all laid out on the counter, Sabine putting the different ingredients into pans, waiting for Adrien to speak. "What happened, Adrien?"

It took a lot to upset the girl. She could easily spring back when broken, always wearing a smile. He had never seen her cry before. "Let me preface this with I did not intend to hurt your daughter. I wanted to do everything right. We haven't known each other terribly long, but she has quickly become one of the most important people in my life. I didn't mean to hurt her. I was really trying to do things right."

"I'm sure you were, honey. I know you're a good boy. What happened?" Though she was speaking to him softly her voice was heard clear over the popping sounds that came from the stove.

"When I was ten years old my father arranged a marriage for me, so I've been engaged for over eleven years. The wedding was planned for this July, and I was content with living life like that. Chloe was one of my friends, and I just accepted that I was going to have to marry her. I met Marinette and realized that's not the future I want anymore. She's the best person I've ever met and while I'm not really sure what love is I _know_ I can find out if I stick with her.

"My father went out of the country for work so I finally was able to celebrate the holiday. I asked Chloe to celebrate it with me but she decided to fly to New York City to celebrate her last Christmas as a single woman, or something like that. She wouldn't be able to help me decorate, but I saw your daughter decorating the tree in the window. I came and gave you my business card and over the past few weeks we've been decorating my tree and mantle. She's been determined to give me the best Christmas ever. She's made me feel the happiest I have in years.

"I wanted to tell her sooner but I didn't want to betray Chloe by cheating on her. She's cheated on me before and it was the worst feeling in the world. I wanted to make things right. I tried to call Chole last night and tell her that I couldn't continue our engagement, but she didn't answer. I didn't want to leave a message like that over a voicemail so I hung up and called her this morning. She didn't answer either so I sent her a text telling her to call me when she could. Marinette then came over and brought me your amazing macarons and hot chocolate, and we were just going to have another nice day.

"The Chloe showed up. I led her to the couch, prepared to tell her that things were over between us, when she kissed me, and Marinette saw. She got upset and left. I broke things off with Chloe and then chased after Marinette as quickly as I could. I just don't think I went after her fast enough."

Sabine grabbed a plate from the cabinet and started placing a serving of fried rice on it, passing the plate to Adrien with a pair of chopsticks. "That sounds like a difficult situation. I don't blame you in the least. You tried to do the right thing and everything just came down to timing and bad luck. That's just how life is some times. I do think that if you explained this to Marinette she would forgive you in a heartbeat." She took one of his hands in her and gave it a supportive, maternal squeeze. "If you don't find her before she comes home I'll give you a call. You both deserve to resolve this situation."

" _Merci_ , Sabine." His was genuinely glad to have someone like her to turn to. She wasn't his real mother, but she treated him like a son already. "I don't know how things will turn out between me and Marinette, but I will try my hardest to make things right." He would grab a bouquet of flowers and perform Romeo and Juliet underneath her balcony if he had to.

"I know you will, honey. I'm rooting for you." She grabbed a glass and filled it with water, placing it in front of him. "Eat your food and go look for her. If I know my daughter then I know she is out there waiting for you, but she's not the type to wait forever."

"Yes ma'am." The rice was delicious, but he hardly had time to process it as he scarfed down the food faster than anything else he had eaten in is lifetime. "Thank you! I'll let you know how it goes!"

He started to leave the living area of their home, walking out the door, when he heard Sabine mutter something under her breath that made his face hot. "I'm going to have the most beautiful grandchildren someday." Adrien chose to ignore the comment and ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time, running out the door of the bakery and running down the streets, almost knocking over a few innocent pedestrians who were just trying to walk along the street.

All should have been well, except when he heard his phone ring. He pulled the device out of his pocket and cringed when he saw the name displayed. It was his father. If he didn't answer then he'd have hell to pay later. He'd have hell to pay now. There was only one reason why his father would be calling him. He begrudgingly answered, deciding he could look for Marinette while talking on the phone.

"Miss Bourgeois just called me with some very alarming news. This better be a joke, Adrien. Did you break off your engagement with her?" Adrien could see the stern expression his father was making. He didn't have to be anywhere near him to know that his eyebrows were creased and lips were making a tight thin line.

"Father, I really don't want to talk about this right now. I'm kind of in the middle of something." Frankly, it was a lot of drama Adrien didn't want to get involved in at the moment. His his priority was finding Marinette. Everything else would come later.

"This is a joke, Adrien. I don't know what about this situation you would find funny but I demand you put an end to it now." Adrien turned the corner, his eyes set on the park in front of him. Perhaps she was somewhere in there. Hopefully she wasn't sobbing on a bench.

"It's not a joke! I couldn't do it, and I'm sorry. I can't marry Chloe." Both end of the phone were silent for a few moments. Tense air was felt from miles away. "I'm sorry. I can't go through with it."

"What brought this on? Did Chloe do anything wrong? Are you going through a teenage rebellion a few years too late? I need you to talk to me, Adrien. I need to understand what caused this."

Talking to his father was exhausting. Looking for Marinette was exhausting. Being in this cold was exhausting. He bundled up his scarf, tightening it around his neck before taking a seat on one of the empty benches. The park was nearly deserted, save a few children having a snowball fight. "Father, I'm falling in love with someone else. I know it sounds stupid, that I met this girl just a few weeks ago, but she's made me happier than I've felt since mom died."

"Who is this girl?"

There was no yelling. There was no disappointed sigh. Just four words asking about this girl's identity. "Her name is Marinette. She's the daughter of a pair of bakers." Silence. "Remember the year mom died? I went missing and a baker and his wife and daughter brought me back. It's the same girl." There was still silence. "I know it's stupid, father, but I have fallen hard for her and I tried to be faithful to Chloe and ignore my heart but I couldn't any longer. I had to follow my own heart, for once."

"I'll call you back tomorrow. I need some time to think about this." The phone was hung up, leaving Adrien to wonder what fate had in store for him.

Fate? No. He was going to take it into his won hands. There was the proverbial fork in the road right now. He could go home and go back to Chloe, apologize and live a satisfying, but not completely fulfilled life. He would be secure but always asking what if. He could do what his head was telling him to do and stay with the life he had. Safe. Comfortable. Boring. The other road led to him pursuing Marinette. This road was full of risks. He didn't know if Marinette would be with him. She didn't know if they would stay together even if they did go out. They could fall in love and breakup, being heartbroken. Or they could live a joy filled life together full of love, smiles and pastries. He could follow his heart and continue to search for the woman he had fallen for.

He knew his decision. It wasn't even difficult.

So what if he was left penniless? He didn't need money!

So what if he was left without food? They could bake bread!

So what if this was the wrong choice? He'd do everything in his power to make it the correct one.

He was going to find Marinette. He got off the bench and ran through the streets of Paris once again, looking for her in every coffee shop, bookstore and park bench. He stopped at every window and peered in. He felt the warmth leave his body and felt himself start to shiver from the cold. He was going to find Marinette. He refused to go home otherwise. Just as he was about to give up he peered into the window of a familiar cafe, seeing a girl sob into a bowl of potato soup. He opened the door and let himself in, sitting across from her. "Marinette?"

She looked up at him and he felt the world stop.

* * *

 _Happy Friday everyone! I can't believe how close we are to the end! I ended up having to change this chapter up a bit plot wise, but I like how it flows with the story better than the original idea, which was just going to be an extended blowout with Chloe. I felt like the scenes with Sabine and Gabriel were needed. I hope y'all enjoyed! Let me know what y'all think! See y'all tomorrow!_


	11. Blue Christmas

Chapter Ten: Blue Christmas

"Marinette?" The world stopped when he looked at her. He felt awful for being the reason that she was sitting in the familiar cafe, sobbing into the bowl of soup. The kind woman who owned the cafe was nowhere in sight. He assumed she left Marinette alone so she wouldn't be embarrassed to cry.

To him it seemed like they were the only two people in the world in that moment. The fate of the entire universe could be resting on his shoulders at that moment, and it might as well have been. The amount of stress, tension and anxiety that he felt in that moment, looking at her and her red rimmed eyes, couldn't possibly compare to what shouldering the entire world felt like.

When she didn't respond he took it as an invitation to sit across from her at the table. "Marinette, I really need to talk to you."

She let out a sniffle, but otherwise refused to acknowledge his existence.

"Listen, Marinette, I know you probably hate me, and you have every right to do so, but I need to explain what happened. What you saw happen in there was not what you think." He could still feel the shadow of Chloe's lips on his and he wanted nothing more than to cover them up with Marinettes.

"You're saying I didn't leave to go to the bathroom for two minutes, then come back in and find you lip locked with a girl that wasn't me?"

"Yeah, that's what happened, but I need to explain something to you."

Marinette crossed her arms and looked him in the eyes, her deep blue orbs becoming frosted over, like the ocean turning into a glacier. "You want to explain?" She took a deep breath, licked her lips, and blinked rapidly, trying to stop the onslaught of tears. "Listen, Adrien. There's nothing for you to explain. We weren't dating. We aren't dating. I just had the wrong idea about us. I- I thought there was chemistry, or something. I wanted to be with you but I guess that wasn't true for both of us."

"That's not true, Mari. It wasn't one sided."

"It had to have been, or everything that happened between us would have made me some horrible home-wrecker and that's not what I want to be. I thought things would possibly work out between us, that we could start as friends and go from there. You were this perfect guy, nice, enthusiastic, handsome, hell, you were, no, _are_ , everything that I want. I was stupid to assume you were still available." On the table sat a glass cup and a pitcher of water. She grabbed the pitcher and filled her glass, taking sips to calm herself and rehydrate through the tears that were now falling once again. It pained him to see Marinette like this. She was a strong, enthusiastic. She was willing to help others at no cost to herself. She didn't deserve this kind of hurt.

She deserved the truth. He wanted to give her the truth. "Marinette, please. I really need to tell you what happened. I know you probably don't want to hear excuses, or, hell, you might not want to hear anything at the moment, so I wont tell you. But I will. In three days, the twenty-third, can we meet? Can you meet me in front of my Christmas Tree? You'll have time to process everything and I'll have time to sort through personal affairs that I desperately need to attend to. I'll live with the guilt of what I did in the mean time. I deserve to, because I _don't_ deserve you, Marinette."

"Three days? I want to trust you, Adrien. You've become one of my best friends. I really want to trust you, but how do I know you're not going to use those three days to come up with a story to feed me and win me back." She took another sip of her water. "I don't think I could handle it if you lied to me. I don't think my heart could."

A bit of hair escaped from one of the twin tails she sported today. He wanted to push the strand of hair behind her ear and tell her what she meant to him, but he would resist for now. "I went to the bakery earlier today looking for you. I talked to your mother, told her what happened. If my story doesn't match up with hers you can walk out and never talk to me again. You can forget this whole month ever happened. You'll never have to see me again. I can be some stranger." This prospect seemed to intrigue, yet sadden the girl sitting across from him. "Marinette, I would do anything to see you happy. It kills me to know I'm the reason you're crying. I never meant to hurt you."

"Hurt me? Adrien, you broke my heart." A tense silence filled the small space and neither of them spoke for a few minutes, letting the words broken heart linger in the air. "Adrien, you broke my heart and it's not fair to either of us for me to say so. There was nothing going on between us. Right now, frankly, I doubt there ever will be." This tore Adrien to pieces to hear her say that, but he didn't interrupt. "You talked to my mom and she didn't kill you? I guess that means there's something I'm missing. I'll be at your house in three days, on the twenty-third. You can explain everything to me then. I don't want to lose you, but I don't want to feel this hurt ever again."

He gave her a tentative, sad smile, glad that she was allowing him to go on with his plan. "Thank you, Marinette." He got up from the table and placed a twenty euro note on the table. "This is for the soup. I was planning on taking us out to lunch today before everything happened. This is a sort of consolation." He left the cafe with as much composure he could manage to conjure up. He wasn't going to let Marinette see how weak she made him. Not right now, at least. There was enough going on in her head.

Those three days went by slowly. Adrien's life was filled with angry phone calls from Chloe and Andre, both reluctantly letting Adrien out of his engagement to the girl on the condition that anything that went out the the media would be handled by their PR team. Adrien agreed to this, as did Gabriel, eventually.

His father agreeing to the breakup came as a surprise to Adrien. He thought his father would have demanded he stay with Chloe and just forget about Marinette, but his mother seemed to make her way back into his mind. "Adrien, I never wanted you to suffer like I did when your mother died. I was grieving and I thought it would be best to shelter you from that kind of pain. I see now that my intentions were misguided. I only ever wanted what was best for you. If you think that it is in your best interests to leave Chloe and pursue this baker's daughter then I will support you. I arranged the marriage with Chloe because she came from an influential, well off family and you would want for nothing if anything ever happened to me or the company. I just don't want you to make a mistake you'll end up regretting later. You're my son. You're all I've got left."

That phone call made Adrien shut himself up in his room and cry for about two hours. He had never thought about why his father had set up the arranged marriage. He suspected it was for political and business gain but never had he considered the marriage was for his sake.

There was one other phone call he made to his father, requesting something for Marinette's sake. "Father, I want to preface this with I approached her, not the other way around. Frankly, I don't think she had any idea who I was when we met."

"Go on."

"I want to give Marinette a Christmas gift, and I was trying to think of what to get her. Marinette wants to be a designer and I know your company is one of her favorites. I was wondering if it would be possible for you to give her an internship or a private design session? I screwed up with her, and I want to make it up for her. She's done so much for me I want to do something in return. Even if things end up not working out between us I think the-"

"A private design session?" His father pondered the idea over the phone. "I can arrange that. If she happens to be as good as you lead me to believe then it is possible that an internship can come from that."

"Thank you father!"

Finally the third day came. Adrien paced the living room waiting for her to come. At nine sharp the doorbell rang and Adrien opened it, seeing Marinette with a hot chocolate and a bag of his favorites from the bakery. Despite the sweets, an awkward tension filled the air, the two not sure whether to greet one another with their usual hug, or just hang back and wait until after things were settled to let affection come between the two of them. The latter was decided when Adrien went in for a hug and Marinette sidestepped to avoid hugging him, walking into the house and sat on the couch where she had seen Adrien kiss the other girl just days before. Adrien sighed and went to sit beside her, but not too close as to not make things more uncomfortable.

"So, you said you had a good reason?"

"I was engaged."

"Huh," Marinette placed her head in her hands. "So I am a home-wrecker and..." she trailed off and Adrien assumed she didn't want to say the words two-timing son of a bitch to his face.

"It was an arranged marriage. When I was ten I got engaged to Chloe. I liked her as a friend, but never loved her. I thought I would be okay living a loveless life until I met you."

Marinette lifted her head from her hands and looked at him. "You were in an arranged marriage? Since you were ten?" The anger on her features turned to pity. "You thought you'd be okay living without love?"

"Yeah. Until I met you. I was trying to ignore my feelings for you but eventually I just couldn't do it any more. I decided to break off the engagement with Chloe and I was in the process of breaking it off when she kissed me. I wanted to kiss you so many times but I had to keep stopping myself. I wanted to do things right. Chloe had cheated on me before. I didn't want to do the same to her."

At this point Marinette started laughing. "So, this whole thing was just a giant misunderstanding? You were kissed by your fiancé, who you had no feelings for, because you were being forced to marry her? You were trying to break it off but I just have the worst luck in the world?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it. You can call your mom and corroborate. Hell, you can even wait a week for some tabloid to come out talking about how me and Chloe's big split, if you'd like."

She shook her head. "No, I trust you."

"Does this mean you'll forgive me?"

"I'll forgive you," she said, "for now."

"Can I kiss you?" He leaned in, preparing to place his lips on hers when her hand shot up between them, his kiss landing on the knuckles of two of her fingers.

"Not yet. I trust you and I really want to kiss you but I still need some time to process everything. How about I let you know tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Yeah, tomorrow. It'll be Christmas Eve. We'll meet at the park and I'll give you my answer then. Sound good."

"Alright, tomorrow. At the park."

"Now why don't we go play some video games. Even if nothing happens, tomorrow, Adrien, you'll still be one of my best friends. I can promise that much right now."

"If being just friends with you is worse case scenario then I think you and I will be just fine, Marintte." And he genuinely felt that way. Everything was going to be great.

* * *

 _We are so close to the end, guys! Yay! It means Christmas is almost here! Woohoo! I just have one request for y'all now. On my profile I have a poll advertising four new stories, and towards the middle I have plot summaries for each of these stories. I need to know which y'all want to see next. This poll will be open until January 1st, which point I will close it and make a final decision on what story I will write next. It would really mean a lot if y'all went to vote on it! Besides that, let me know what y'all think and I'll see y'all tomorrow!_


	12. Sleigh Ride

Chapter Eleven: Sleigh Ride

Christmas Eve Adrien woke up at eight in the morning, which was sleeping in for him. His eyes blinked away the sleep and he stretched, rolling his shoulders back, before arching his back, popping each of the vertebrae in his back, he then rolled on his stomach and absentmindedly fiddled on his phone, killing time. He and Marinette decided they were going to meet up at the park at one that afternoon, so he had plenty of time to kill. He decided that the best way he could use his time was to dissolve himself into a sleepy Christmas Eve morning.

Nine Adrien finally pulled himself out of bed and took a shower, propping his phone on a soap dispenser attached to the wall and watched an episode of his favorite anime at the moment. He got out and put a bit of product in his hair, ruffling it, putting on a pair of sweatpants and making his way downstairs where he raided the kitchen for breakfast, making some bacon and toast and washing it down with a glass of water.

He looked at the clock and let out a sigh seeing that it was only ten when he finished doing all this. He called his father and wished him a Merry Christmas then sent a text to Nino, wishing the same, before going back to his room to play apps on his phone, practice his Chinese, and watch anime, praying the time would pass quickly so he could meet Marinette, practically running out the door when twelve thirty arrived.

Before bolting out the door he grabbed a bouquet of flowers that he had purchased the evening before, and a small, admittedly terribly wrapped box with a sad attempt for a bow tied around. His Christmas present to Marinette. He was happy to give it to her no matter what she said today. Admittedly, he'd be crushed if she said anything other than she'd return his feelings, but he promised himself he respect what she said, no matter what the outcome may be.

He got to the park with nine minutes to spare, his hair he'd styled earlier in disarray, his scarf twisted uncomfortably around his neck. He pulled at the dark gray material, trying to get away from the suffocating feeling when he felt hands pull at the scarf from behind, loosening it for him. "Thank you," he turned around to face who had assisted him, taking a step back in shock seeing who it was. "Chloe?"

He saw her attempt to gather her composure and face the man who had trampled all over her heart. He felt bad for her, and he wished there was some other way, but he knew they both deserved better than the life the were going to be forced to live together. "Adrien, I didn't know you would be here."

"Yeah, I'm meeting Marinette." His heart started beating erratically, and he rubbed the back of his neck with the hand holding the bouquet, a nervous tick of his.

"Cool. I was just going for my daily jog, you know?" He took a moment to look at her appearance. Black leggings paired with a yellow sports jacket and tennis shoes. A thermal headband wrapped around her ears to keep them warm. A pair of bluetooth headphones hung idly around her neck. "I saw you struggling and thought I could help you." She started stretching in front of him. Usually this would be something she did to show off, but not it seemed like a genuine stretch, to keep her muscles loose. "Well, I'll see you around," she said, preparing to run off again.

"Yeah, see ya."

She jogged three steps away before walking back. "I just need to know why. Why would you do this to me? We might not have had a fairytale relationship, but we could have been happy enough. I know I still have some growing up to do, but I know you could help me do that. I'm selfish, but that's because I'm lonely. I thought you understood what it was like to be lonely more than anyone else. We could have lived our stupid, lonely lives together."

"But I didn't want to live a stupid, lonely life. I thought I could but I met Marinette and I discovered what it was like to not be alone anymore. She makes me happy in a way I can't explain. All I know is that when I found it, I never wanted to let it go." The blonde girl standing across from him absorbed every word he said, looking at him attentively. "I might have found my fairytale, Chloe, but that doesn't mean we can't still be friends. We've been together for over a decade. We've been friends. We've confided out deepest, darkest secrets. We ran around my room pretending we were superheroes!"

She let out a dry laugh. "You pretended to be a superhero. I was always the villain remember."

"You said you liked being the villain!"

"I did. I still do. Why would I want to be a boring superhero when I could take over the world and make it my own?" Her voice was filled with nostalgia, and Adrien found himself looking back on the days with her fondly.

"You'll still make the world your own, Chloe. You don't have to be a hero, or a villain. I know you'll do amazing things. You'll find your own fairytale ending, whether it be standing at the top of France, everyone looking to you to make the decisions, or just at your own home. I'm betting on the former, though. You're not the type to sit around. You'll take France's political world by storm."

"Hell yeah I will." Chloe held out her hand to him for a handshake, "and I'll always remember that little loser who dumped me for a peasant." She gave him a wink and Adrien rolled his eyes. "Say hi to Marinette for me." Adrien could tell she was trying to not cry, to keep the tears in. "I really do wish you the best."

"You, too." He moved the present into the back with the bouquet, took her hand and shook it, before Chloe looked over she shoulder and gave someone behind him an unusually timid wave.

"You must be Marinette." She took her hand from Adrien's and held it out to the girl. "I really wish you guys all the happiness in the world. Trust me when I say no one deserves it more than this guy."

"Um, thanks?"

With that Chloe gave a one of her signature charming smiles and ran off. "Merry Christmas," she yelled over her shoulder, before putting the earbuds back in her ears.

"What was that about?" Marinette asked, no malice in her eyes, just pure curiosity.

"She apparently jogs here. We just ran into one another. We haven't really had a chance to talk since the whole falling out." Adrien noticed he was still holding the flowers and present. "Here, these are for you." He presented her with the gifts before noticing she was holding a beautifully wrapped package as well.

"Thank you, Adrien. I have something for you too." The bashfully accepted one another's gifts, Adrien carefully removing the wrapping and pulling out a hand-knit baby blue scarf. "This is beautiful," he breathed, immediately taking off the gray scarf and putting on the blue one. "How do I look?"

She didn't answer because she was stunned, looking at the little paper he had put in the box. "You got me a private workshop with your father?" She shook her head, "I can't accept this, Adrien! It's too much!"

"Too much? Marinette, it's nothing compared to what you've done for me! I wanted to do more, but I thought you wouldn't accept it."

"Yeah, you're right. I just feel awful because you're doing all this for me and I just left you waiting after yesterday."

Adrien ran his fingers over the edge of the scarf, the soft material resting in his fingers. "You made this for me, Mari? You're amazing. You've done so much and have a hard time accepting even a little bit back. Please, accept this much. I wanted to give you this much, no matter what happened today."

"Fine." She let out a breath and smiled. "Well come on. The bakery is closed for Christmas Eve so I made us cookies and hot chocolate. Well, more like I'm going to make us hot chocolate. I didn't want it to cool off before we drank it. But the cookies are fresh!"

"Awesome!" He hung his hand by his side, noticing Marinette did the same. He wanted to take her hand in his. Their fingers brushed slightly and he was continually tempted to do so. "Can I told your hand?" He asked shyly halfway to her home. Their walk had been silent before them, just the sound of their feet in the snow.

Marinette responded by taking his hand in hers and giving him a soft smile. "There," she said, "it's familiar, right? It's not the first time we've held hands." They both thought of when they held hands to keep warm when he left his glove at home. That seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Yeah." He liked the feeling of her hand in his. He was comforted by having something secure to hold onto.

The finished the walk, entering the house, Marinette grabbing a vase to put the flowers in. "They're beautiful, thank you."

"They don't hold a candle to you. You're beautiful."

"Adrien, please, don't."

So she was going to reject him. Disappointment crashed over him. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. It was a mistake. Falling for Marinette wasn't, but thinking that she'd reciprocate after everything that happened between the two of them? It was a miracle she didn't hate him right now. "Sorry," he said, trying to hide the dejection in his voice. He was unsuccessful, as his voice cracked while speaking.

"Crap, sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I- I was, here," she took his hand in hers and led him to the doorway separating the kitchen and living room. She took her index and middle finger, lifting his chin so he could see what was at the top of the doorway. Mistletoe. "I was going to lead you here on our way to get cookies. I was thinking we could stop and I would point out the mistletoe and we would kiss and all sorts of cheesy fireworks would go off. I guess that didn't quite go according to mmph!"

She couldn't finish because Adrien's lips crashed onto her. First, she stood stiff, surprised by the typically gentle boy's sudden aggression, but she then sunk into him, her lips pressing against his own, the two no longer holding back, smiling through the kiss because this felt right. It was amazing how right this felt!

Eventually the kiss ended, with them pulling apart slowly, peppering one another with smaller kisses before they just stared at one another, panting, with goofy grins on their faces. "I love you Marinette," he said, just staring at those big blue eyes, relishing in the blush that was on her cheeks. "Crap, is it too soon to say that? I mean, I don't want to scare you or anything but, I really feel that way. I love you Marinette."

"I love you too."

The goofy grin he wore grew bigger and he peppered her cheeks, lips, forehead, anywhere with more kisses, laughing because Marinette loved him too. She loved him and he loved her and everything was right with the universe. "I guess I should ask you to be my girlfriend huh?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I mean we're a bit out of order. Typically the I love you's come after the whole boyfriend girlfriend thing, but we'll work on it."

"Sorry, I've never had a girlfriend before."

Marinette let out a small laugh, the sides of her eyes crinkling with joy. "Nope, just a fiancé."

A strand of hair came loose and he didn't stop himself this time. He tucked the loose strand of hair behind her ear, leaning in and kissing her while he did so, kissing her, once again, beneath the mistletoe.

* * *

 _Merry Christmas Eve y'all! I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas! It totally snuck up on me. Once I publish this chapter I have to go wrap two more presents… oops. I hope y'all enjoyed reading this. I pray you all find yourselves on Santa's Nice list tonight and don't have stockings full of coal when you wake up tomorrow morning. I'll see y'all tomorrow with the epilogue, but for now, have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!_


	13. Santa Baby

Epilogue: Santa Baby

Three years later on Christmas morning Marinette woke up and made her way to the living room. She no longer lived at her parents house, but rather on her own in a small apartment. She worked at Agreste after interning for a year, finally landing a job as a junior designer. She didn't get to design much, yet, but the designs she did create were always hits and she showed promise. Many thought it was unfair that she managed to snag the internship because she knew and was dating Adrien, the golden boy of the company. No one could deny her talent, though.

She had been dating Adrien the entirety of those three years. Through those three years they served as Maid of Honor and Best Man at Alya and Nino's wedding, and were declared the godparents of their six month old daughter, Raina.

When she got to the living room she was greeted with the sight of two full stockings and gifts overflowing from her small Christmas Tree. Sitting on one of the plush seats she kept in the living room was Adrien, dressed in a red Santa Suit, a hat crookedly placed on his head. His head lolled to one side, leaning against the edge of the chair. Marinette smiled and shook her head, walking to the kitchen and preparing two cups of hot chocolate, quietly singing Christmas carols to herself as she did so, her usually pretty soprano cracking slightly with the notes from the forced quietness combined with the grogginess of waking up. She didn't know when Adrien came in pretending to be Santa Clause, but from the way her dog Tikki was curled up in a small ball at his feet, and his flair for the theatrics, she assumed he came in at exactly midnight, pretending to be Santa, carrying the presents and filled stockings over his shoulder in the brown bag Tikki was currently using as a dog bed.

She grabbed her phone and took a picture of the sight before tapping him lightly on the shoulder, waking him up. "Rise and Shine sleepy head." She presented him with a mug of hot chocolate and went to sit on the couch across from him. "You should have just come in my room if you were going to stay the night."

Adrien gave Marinette a sleepy, sheepish smile, slowly sitting up in the chair and taking a sip of the warm drink. "You looked really peaceful. I didn't want to wake you."

"Mmmhmm. And you didn't think breaking into my house and leaving presents everywhere wouldn't wake me? Everything looks beautiful, by the way, but I thought we agreed no gifts?"

He lifted his free hand to rub the back of his neck. "It's not breaking and entering if I have a key. Your fireplace doesn't connect to a real chimney and I couldn't scale the wall to get to your balcony. Also, I might have lied about the whole gift thing."

Marinette got up from her seat on the couch and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I know. I might have lied, too. I'll be right back."

She needed to go to her bedroom and grab the gifts she had prepared for him. She knew he was going overboard with Christmas this year. Nino couldn't keep a secret from Alya, and Alya wasn't going to let Marinette be done on Christmas. She had hidden the presents in her closet, behind some garment bags, a box of tampons sitting on top to deter Adrien in the unlikely event he looked behind the garment bags. Luckily, he did no such thing and Marinette's presents were kept secret. She picked them up and carried them over, taking two trips to collect them all, still not even coming close to the amount of presents he got her. "Seriously, Adrien? This is a bit overkill, don't you think?"

He got up out of his chair and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Come on, what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine. Think of it like that and really I'm just giving myself presents."

Marinette glanced at her stocking and saw a pair of pink gloves sticking out. "What's mine is yours huh? Think you can get your hands in these?" She passed him the gloves with a cheeky grin and he rolled his eyes.

"I get satisfaction from just seeing M'Lady wearing something I picked out for her."

"I thought Santa brought these?"

He grabbed her waist and took the gloves out of her hand, teasingly holding them in front of her eyes. "Ho ho ho, he did. Don't you think Santa deserves something sweet? He didn't see any cookies left out for him last night."

Marinette gave him a quick peck on the lips and batted her eyes at him. "Sweet enough, _Santa_?"

He shook his head, and buried his head into her neck. "Never." He placed chaste kisses on her neck, trailing up to her jawbone, and eventually finding his way to her lips again. "I like Christmas mornings like this," he said.

"I think I could too, _Santa_." She then led Adrien down to the front of the tree where she started passing out the presents, setting the various gifts in front of him and herself. "This one it for Plagg," she said, passing Adrien a bag with a cat wearing a santa hat on the side. "It's just a few cat toys I picked up when I was getting Tikki her gift."

"Thanks, Bugaboo. He'll love it." Adrien placed the gifts he got for Marinette in front of her, carefully examining each one before passing them to her. "There's a bit of an order for the gifts I got you. Well, there's one you need to open last at least."

"Alright?"

They started opening the presents, each smiling at the thought the other person put into the gifts, Adrien receiving board games and Marinette receiving sewing supplies. "Okay, I need you to close your eyes for this one, Mari," Adrien said, a smile on his face, "and hold out your hands."

She nodded. "Alright." She did as she was told, holding out her hands. "You're not going to put something gross here, are you?"

"To M'Lady? Never!" He grabbed the smallest gift and placed it in her hands. "Alright, you can open."

When she opened her eyes there was a key sitting there with a red bow taped on top. "What is this?"

"It- It's the key to our new house, if you'd move in with me." Looking into his eyes Marinette could tell how nervous Adrien was, so she just threw her arms around his shoulders. "I can't believe you bought us a house."

"Want to see it?"

Of course she did. So they left the apartment after cleaning up the wrapping paper mess and putting on their coats, Marinette not bothering to change out of her pajamas, but Adrien electing to ditch the Santa Suit and wear a pair of pajamas that he kept at Marinettes. It would just be the two of them. There was not need to keep up appearances.

They drove until they were in a nice neighborhood not far from either of their parent's homes. The houses appeared to be two bedroom and on the small side, but the location... Marinette knew the home must have cost a fortune. "This is beautiful," she said. It really was. Steep roofs with large windows opening to a gorgeous yard covered in soft snow... "Why, what on earth possessed you to do this?"

Adrien shrugged and left the car, leading the girl into the home. Wooden floors went throughout the house, and a granite and stainless steel kitchen greeted them. The house was empty, no furniture, too clean, obviously vacant, but just waiting for someone to move into it. "Wow. Adrien, I can't believe you did this."

"I did. There's one more surprise, too."

If Marinette thought Adrien looked nervous before then he looked like a train wreck now. A bit of sweat was forming on his brow, and his hands were shaking slightly. His breaths were shallow, but coming in evenly. His mouth was a tense smile, and his eyes were filled with hope. She almost didn't believe it when she saw him pull something out of his pocket and drop to one knee. Her heart started racing and tears started to prick in her eyes. She always thought it was cliche to cry during a proposal, but when it was happening to her she couldn't resist. "Marinette, marry me?"

She nodded, the smile growing larger across her face. "Yeah, I will."

He got off his knee and placed the ring on her finger, a silver band with emerald and ruby intertwining with one another. "It's beautiful, Adrien."

"I thought you'd like it." He gave her a gentle kiss on her lips and she leaned in, hungry for more, until they both pulled away, satisfied with what had occurred. "So, you're my fiancé now, huh?" He used to hate that word, but not he loved it. He loved it because it meant Marinette was going to be his.

"Yeah, I guess I am. I'm the future Mrs. Marinette Agreste."

"I love the sound of that." They kissed once again and Adrien pulled out his phone, taking her left hand in his and snapping a picture. "I need to send this to Alya and Nino."

"They knew?"

Adrien nodded. "Of course they did! I've been planning this since June. I knew I wanted to propose to you at Christmas since that was the holiday that brought us together. It doesn't matter if it happened when we were eight, or when we were twenty-one. Christmas threw us together and I knew no other day would be right."

"You've been waiting that long? I didn't think Nino could keep a secret. Explains why he's looked like a nervous wreck around me recently. I thought Alya was dragging me to all those bakeries to try different cakes just because of her pregnancy cravings. It was a bit weird she had us continue to go after Raina was born, though. Everything makes sense now."

"Yeah, it does huh?"

"It also explains why you've been keeping secrets!" She gave a small laugh. "Seriously, I thought you were in trouble with your father or something and didn't want to talk to me about it."

"Well, I didn't think you and my father would hit it off so well when the two of you met."

"Aww, are you a bit jealous?"

He crossed his arms and gave a small pout. "No, I'm not jealous." The pout dissolved away. "I mean, how could I be? The most amazing girl in the world just agreed to be my wife!"

"Do you think I will live up to the Agreste name?" She gave him a joking look, but let a bit of her internalized fear slip out.

He was quick to reassure her, taking her hands in his. "Live up to? Marinette, I should be asking if the Agreste name is worthy of you. Frankly, I think you could have done so much better than me. It's amazing how lucky I am to have somehow won your heart."

"You didn't need to win my heart, silly. It was always yours. I just needed some time to figure out that it belonged to you. I gave you my heart a long time ago, Adrien. I'm the lucky one because you decided to give yours to me."

She gave him her heart, and he gave her his. That was better than anything he could imagine. "We're going to get to spend the rest of our lives together, you know?"

"I can't wait." And she really couldn't. A lifetime with Adrien would be a lifetime well spent.

In that house, the one where they would start their future, they shared one more kiss. Later that day they would go see family and spread the word that they were engaged, everyone ecstatic at the news, and that night they would grab Tikki and Plagg, grab every pillow and blanket they could find, and make a giant pallet on the floor of their new master bedroom. They would spend their first night in their new home in one another's arms, and they wouldn't have had it any other way.

* * *

 _Merry Christmas everyone! I can't believe this is the end. Frankly I can't believe I managed to pull off another one of these daily update stories! They're a ton of fun to write but take a surprising amount of planning to successfully pull off. I'll consider doing one for Valentine's Day. In the meantime please go vote on my poll for my next story! I would really appreciate it. I also hope y'all have had a very Merry Christmas this year. I am glad you let me be a part of your holiday. See y'all soon!_


End file.
